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■'  Glints  of  Wisdom 

HELPFUL  SAYINGS 

FOR 

LEISURE  MOMENTS 


ABSTRACTS  FROM  LECTURES  DELIVERED  BY 

W.  J.  COLVILLE  ^  ^ 

In  Union  Square  Hall,  New  York 


Compiled  fro7n  Epitomized  Reports  by 

ALICE  E.  LIVINGSTON 


_  ON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
CHESTNUT  BILL.  MASS. 


A  word  fitly  spoken  is  like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver. 

—  Proverbs,  xxv.  ii. 


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BOSTON 
JHT  PUBLIS 
9  Boswortii  Street 


BANNER  OF  LIGHT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


1896 


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Copyright,  i8g^, 

By  Alice  E.  Livingston. 


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PREFACE. 


The  shorthand  notes  from  which  this  volume  has  been  com¬ 
piled  were  taken,  and  the  transcription  begun,  with  no  thought 
beyond  the  personal  benefit  and  satisfaction  to  be  derived  from 
their  perusal  from  time  to  time. 

As  the  work  of  copying  advanced,  however,  the  idea  of 
sharing  my  valuable  collection  of  beautiful  truths  with  others 
who  are  in  the  pathway  of  the  higher  thought  became  an 
impelling  motive. 

Wliile  each  excerpt  is  complete  in  itself,  and  the  original 
intent  was  to  cite  them  in  the  order  reported  from  the  lectures, 
yet,  for  the  sake  of  convenient  reference,  they  have  been 
jirranged  as  seemed  suitable  ;  the  method  of  compilation  and 
classification  suggesting  itself,  and  ultimately  developing  into 
the  form  here  presented. 

A  helpful,  inspiring  motto  may  be  found  in  nearly  every 
citation  ;  but  the  grouping  of  several  at  tlie  close  of  each  sub¬ 
ject,  it  is.  hoped,  may  aid  in  securing  tliat  concentration  whicli 
leads  to  healing  and  unfoldment. 


PREFACE. 


4' 

So,  with  hopeful  expectancy  that  these  truths  may  indeed 
prove  Helpful  Sayings  for  Leisure  Moments,  and  that  an 
acceptable  and  inspiring  suggestion  may  appeal  with  strengthen¬ 
ing  influence  to  many,  when  in  doubt,  or  disheartened  —  and 
believino;  it  will  meet  with  a  warm  welcome  from  those  whose 
privilege  it  has  been  to  listen  to  this  gifted  speaker  —  I  af¬ 
fectionately  offer  this  little  volume  to  all  who  are  of  the 
brotherhood  and  sisterhood  of  Spiritual  Science,  and  to  all 
who  seek  to  become  familiar  with  its  inspiring  doctrine. 

A.  E.  L. 

Note. — The  MS.  of  this  work  having  been  submitted  to  me  for 
approval  and  correction,  I  have  carefully  revised  it,  and  gladly  pro¬ 
nounce  it  authentic.  W.  J.  Colville. 


MAY  30,  1895. 


LIST  OF  SUBJECTS. 


The  Word . 

I 

Thought  . 

Knowledge  ..... 
Cause  and  Effect 
Limitation  .  .  .  .  . 

Servility  .  ...  . 

Individuality  .  .  .  . 

Mental  Healing 

Inversion . 

Liberalism . 

Alternative  .  .  .  . 

Chastening . 

Persistence . 

Concentration  .  .  .  . 

Destiny . 

Heredity . 

Speciality . 

The  Law  of  Attraction 
IHcognition  of  Qualification 

Polarity . 

Harmonious  Vibration  . 


7 

8 

11 

16 

21 

24 

26 

30 

39 

42 

48 

51 

54 

56 

60 

64 

65 

67 

71 

73 

78 


6 


LIST  OL  SUBJECTS. 


Telepathy . 82 

COKRESPONDENCES . .84 

Association  and  Organization . 85 

Memory . 86 

Karma . 87 

Emanations . .91 

The  Real  Ego  —  The  Atma . 94 

Dreaming  True . 99 

rSYCHICAL  UnFOLDMENT  . . 105 

Spiritism . HO 

Elective  Affinity  . 


Auras  —  Psychical  Environment 


.  116 
.  117 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


THE  WORD. 

“In  the  beginning  was  the  word.”  Words  are  neces¬ 
sarily  forms  for  the  expression  of  ideas.  There  is  vastly 
more  meaning  in  them  than  the  majority  of  people  at¬ 
tach  to  words. 

A  condition  is  made  by  the  speaking  of  a  word.  The 
spoken  words  “I  am  glad,”  attract  gladness.  We  can 
attract  to  us  whatsoever  we  demand. 

Whenever  we  wish  a  thing,  we  should  voice  it  —  just 
as  a  master  calls  a  dog.  Every  person  and  every  thing 
answers  to  his,  her,  or  its  name.  Putting  power  on  the 
basis  of  immutable  law,  we  may  call  for  what  we  wish. 

Whatever  we  call  upon  in  the  universe  answers  the 
call.  The  statement  “  Wherever  two  or  three  are  gath¬ 
ered  together  in  My  name  [in  the  name  of  any  good] 
there  am  I  [the  object  sought]  in  the  midst  of  them,”  is 
in  accordance  with  the  Law  of  Attraction.  If  gathered 
together  in  the  name  of  Truth,  there  is  Ti‘uth. 

We  are  responsible  for  every  word  we  speak;  there 
is  limitless  power  in  the  spoken  word.  Every  word 
carries  power  and  conviction  with  it.  There  is  no 
chance,  and  there  are  no  accidents. 


8 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


“According  to  thy  word  be  it  unto  thee.’’  It  is  en¬ 
tirely  woman’s  fault  if  man’s  estimate  of  her  is  low  —  it 
is  woman’s  own  opinion  thrust  back  upon  her. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary,  in  all  teaching,  to  avoid 
using  two  words  for  the  same  thing,  as  words  have 
widely  different  meanings. 

MOTTO. 

Every  man  is  God’s  spoken  word. 


THOUGHT. 

Thought  is  the  magnet  that  attracts  everything  to 
itself. 

Everything  originates  in  the  thought  world.  Every 
material  thing  springs  from  the  mind  of  some  individual. 

We  biing  upon  ourselves  an  immense  amount  of 
trouble  because  we  act  without  thought ;  Ave  take  the 
consequences  of  our  own  ignorant  actions. 

People  express  Avhat  they  express  in  consequence  of 
their  chronic  habits  of  thought.  We  must  learn  to  live 
ahvays  in  the  best  and  highest  thought ;  to  take  note  of 
our  thoughts ;  to  encourage  only  those  thoughts  which 
Avhen  manifested  in  external  forms  express  in  forms  of 

As  every  thought  you  think  about  yourself  comes 
back  to  you,  every  time  you  call  yourself  “  a  poor  crea¬ 
ture,”  it  Avill  come  back  to  you.  The  “  Avorm  ”  theology 
has  made  Avorms  of  vast  numbers  of  people.  “Accoivh 


GLIi^TS  OF  WISDOM. 


9 


ing  to  thy  word,  be  it  unto  thee,”  is  universally  the 
ease. 

A  great  many  people  want  to  be  well,  but  they  do  not 
wish  to  think  along  the  lines  that  lead  to  health.  Peo¬ 
ple  want  to  be  well,  and  at  the  same  time  they  wish  to 
be  unmolested  in  their  bad  thoughts  —  their  venom. 
They  must  either  change  their  thought  and  get  well,  or 
they  must  hold  the  old  thought  and  remain  ill. 

The  mental  healer  needs  to  know  what  thought  must 
be  expressed  in  place  of  a  thought  that  makes  for  illness. 
No  one  can  be  permanently  cured  by  any  external 
method.  No  one  can  be  cured  until  the  cause  of  dis¬ 
order  is  removed. 

“  Out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speak- 
eth.”  We  often  hear  the  expression,  “a  speaking  coun¬ 
tenance.”  We  can  all  read  character  when  we  become 
familiar  with  its  signs.  We  know  that,  on  the  physical 
plane,  there  are  healthy  and  unhealthy  positions  of  the 
body ;  all  that  the  mental  healer  declares  is  that  on  the 
subjective  plane  —  where  we  are  dealing  with  thought  — 
tliere  is  a  way  to  think  that  will  produce  health.  When 
we  think  in  the  right  way,  we  are  well ;  and  when  we 
think  ill  the  wrong  way,  we  are  ill.  Effect  follows 
cause  :  our  iofiiorance  makes  no  difference  with  the  law. 

By  holding  to  the  ground  that  one  is  entitled  to 
honest  dealing,  that  he  will  be  honest  and  demand 
iionesty  from  others,  people  around  him  will  be  held  in 
the  thought  of  honesty ;  he  will  make  for  honesty  in  the 
community.  If  we  hold  people  in  the  thought  of  dis¬ 
honesty,  we  are  making  for  dishonesty. 


10 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


Whenever  one  holds  the  thought  that  people  are  going 
to  do  wrong  things,  he  vitiates  the  atmosphere.  The 
person  who  eggs  another  oii  to  do  a  wrong  is  just  as 
much  to  blame  as  the  wrong- doer.  These  are  the  very 
hypocrites  denounced  by  Christ.  One  who  undertakes 
to  pass  judgment  or  condemnation  upon  his  neighbor  is 
a  lij^pocrite.  If  one  is  easily  influenced,  tlie  one  who 
liolds  a  wrong  thought  in  regard  to  him  helps  to  make 
him  a  wrong-doer. 

Thought  can  be  sent  out  into  a  room  or  any  place. 
You  can  send  into  an  apartment  a  helpful  thought 
whenever  you  wish  to  do  so  —  provided  you  have  no 
doubt  as  to  the  matter. 

Many  people  have  been  accused  of  plagiarism  when 
they  have  only  picked  out  of  the  atmosphere  thoughts 
tliat  have  passed  out  from  others.  Our  very  thoughts 
— ^the  very  words  we  may  be  writing  —  can  be  taken 
up  by  other  people  in  this  way. 

^  Everything  readjusts  itself;  every  thought  Ave  yield 
to  reflects  itself  in  our  conditions. 

A  circumstance  matters  not  at  all  to  a  person  who 
recognizes  the  sovereignty  of  thought.  Any  place  is  a 
sanctuary  where  one’s  mental  state  is  holy. 

MEDITATION. 

The  more  unfolded  we  are  ourselves,  the  more  good 
Ave  must  do,  Avherever  Ave  go  and  Avhatever  Ave  under¬ 
take.  If  the  thought  is  right,  good  thought  goes  through 
the  Avork  —  Avhatever  the  thing  done,  the  Avorker  makes 
the  Avork  sublime  through  his  OAvn  high  concept. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


11 


KNOWLEDGE. 

What  constitutes  knowledge  ?  Experience  is  an  in¬ 
terior  realization. 

The  intellect  is  subject  to  continual  change. 

The  most  that  one  knows  is  the  limit  of  that  person’s 
present  attainment.  The  limit  of  our  attainment  to-day 
is  higher  than  it  was  in  days  gone  by ;  but  the  limit  of 
our  attainment  to-day  is  not  the  limit  of  our  attainment 
for  da^^s  to  come.  The  order  of  development  is  first, 
animal  instinct,  next  the  intellectual,  and  then  the  higher 
spiritual  qualities ;  our  moral  and  spiritual  attainments 
are  superadded  to  the  animal  and  intellectual. 

Those  who  are  now  on  the  lower  rungs  of  the  ladder 
must  live  through  different  and  higher  expressions, 
either  on  this  planet  or  elsewhere. 

There  are  many  persons  to-day  whose  intellects  are 
entirely  superficial. 

It  is  what  you  understand  that  is,  practically,  the 
reality  so  far  as  you  are  concerned. 

The  Book  of  Nature  is  open  to  every  one  who  is  wil¬ 
ling  to  read  it.  Every  one  who  is  in  the  position  to 
discover  the  truth,  discovers  it.  No  one  can  withhold 
from  any  one  knowledge,  Avhen  his  condition  fits  him  to 
receive  it. 

As  the  intellect  expands,  the  universe  becomes  larger 
—  seen  through  tlie  expanding  intellect.  We  do  not 
bring  new  things  into  the  universe,  but  we  see  things  in 
a  new  way.  Tliere  are  multitudes  of  new  things  —  from 
the  standpoint  of  man’s  knowledge. 


12 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


The  spiritual  metliod  of  arriving  at  knowledge  is  the 
very  reverse  of  the  material  method. 

The  atmosphere  holds  everything  that  we  want  to 
know. 

There  are  no  secrets  in  the  universe ;  every  one  can 
draw  whatever  he  pleases,  after  he  has  learned  the  way. 

There  are  no  questionings  of  the  human  mind  that 
are  impertinent. 

If  God  has  any  secrets  which  he  doesn’t  desire  to  re¬ 
veal  to  his  children,  then  he  does  not  endow  his  children 
with  the  desire  to  penetrate  them.  Where  wrong  comes 
in  is  stated  in  Genesis :  The  man  and  woman  partook 
of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil.  So  far  as  they  partook  of  the  good,  so  much  the 
better  for  them ;  so  far  as  they  partook  of  the  evil,  so 
much  the  worse.  Their  motive  was  a  mixed  one  when 
they  sought  knowledge. 

Everything  in  this  universe  is  open,  unsealed.  God 
has  placed  a  veil  over  ■nothiiig.  God  is  willing  that 
every  one  should  read  the  Book  of  Nature  through  and 
through,  and  come  into  the  secret  of  creation  itself. 
“  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest  ?  ” 

Things  are  vastly  more  tlian  they  seem. 

All  our  mistakes  come  from  false  conjecture ;  we  con¬ 
jecture  something  beyond  what  is  evidenced  to  us. 
When  our  senses  do  not  tell  us  enough,  our  conjectures 
and  speculations  produce  false  beliefs,  which  continue 
to  hold  us  until  apprehension  of  truth  destroys  them. 

Nature  never  picks  out  any  of  her  stitches  !  Never 
repents !  Man’s  knowledge  of  the  universe  is  progres- 


GLIXTS  OF  WISDOM. 


13 


sive.  Man  makes  mistakes ;  therefore,  man  has  to  alter 
his  own  work.  Man’s  belief  concernino'  the  law  chaimes  : 

o  o  ^ 

knowledge  never  changes.  Knowledge  increases ;  be¬ 
lief  changes.  Belief  may  be  false;  therefore,  belief 
changes  ;  but  knowledge  cannot  change. 

Man  is  neither  omnipotent  nor  omniscient.  There  is 
no  one  altogether  perfect  except  the  Eternal  Being,  be¬ 
cause  no  one  but  the  Infinite  can  be  perfect  in  knowl¬ 
edge  ;  and  it  would  be  necessary  to  possess  all  knowledge 
in  order  to  always  do  right.  Them  is  always  the  possi¬ 
bility  of  error  as  long  as  there  is  morp  for  us  to  learii. 

Nakedness  signifies  Avitliout  experience.  We  are  not 
desirous  of  going  back  again  to  any  state  of  infancy 
which  we  have  left.  We  caniiot  have  innocence  with¬ 
out  ignorance,  but  we  can  have  purity  without  ignorance. 
Innocence  is  the  earliest,  childlike  state  of  ignorance. 
The  pure  in  heart  see  God ;  but  the  merely  innocent 
hear  the  Divine  Voice,  as  it  were  from  afar.  As  our 
ears  unclose,  the  Divine  Voice  sounds  nearer  and  nearer 
to  us. 

If  our  experiences  were  all  equal,  our  knowledge 
would  be  equal,  our  power  would  be  equal ;  knowledge 
gives  power.  With  every  fresh  experience  we  gain 
knowledge ;  with  every  increase  of  strength  we  gain 
more  freedom. 

Our  dead  selves  maybe  used  as  stepping-stones  to 
liigher  development.  We  can  look  back  and  say,  “  I 
did  make  mistakes,  but  I  am  wise  enough  now  to  keep 
out  of  the  trap.”  Many  say,  “  Jf  I  could  only  live  my 
life  over  again,  how  differently  I  would  act.”  You  will 


14 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


live  your  life  over  again  —  and  act  differently.  Yon 
will  be  placed  in  different  positions,  where  yon  will 
have  the  opportunities  you  wish. 

Education  is  the  unfolding  of  a  faculty  from  within. 
Surroundings  or  environment  have  a  part  to  play  in 
education  —  the  same  as  the  elements  have  a  part  to 
perform  in  the  development  of  a  seed.  A  great  deal  can 
be  done  to  hasten  the  process  of  gestation.  You  may 
improve  the  wild  rose.  Yon  can,  by  education,  develop 
more  and  more  conscience,  more  and  more  reason,  and 
]i)erceive  more  and  more  of  the  Divine  Light. 

We  frequently  make  mistakes  (commonly  called  sins) 
because  we  are  ignorant.  When  we  take  this  ground, 
we  have  no  difficulty  in  harmonizing  apparent  inconsist¬ 
encies  between  desire  and  conduct. 

Every  truth  is  apprehended  morally  and  mentally; 
those  whose  spiritual  development  is  equal  will  appre¬ 
hend  the  same  truths  in  the  same  way,  no  matter  how 
far  apart  they  may  be  physically. 

The  knowledge  of  truth  is  universal  and  profound. 
We  acquaint  ourselves  with  facts  according  to  our  en¬ 
vironments.  The  two  opposing  elements  in  education 
are  tuition  and  intuition :  tuition  reveals  facts,  intuition 
reveals  truths.  Whatever  relates  to  universal  order  or 
cosmic  harmony,  can  be  learned  without  books. 

We  are  now  looking  forward  to  the  time  when  knowl¬ 
edge  sliall  become  universal.  Man’s  poAver  extends  — 
in  harmony  with  law  —  vastly  beyond  what  is  ordinarily 
supposed. 

The  gift  of  wisdom  is  the  gift  of  penetration ;  the 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


15 


gift  of  knowledge  is  that  which  enables  people  to  pick 
up  hits  of  infoiination  here  and  there ;  people  who  have 
it  are  versatile.  The  one  who  has  the  gift  of  knowledge 
is  only  an  assistant  to  one  who  has  the  gift  of  wisdom. 

One  having  wisdom  is  able  to  arrive  at  conclusions 
by  intuition,  to  penetrate  to  the  very  root  of  a  matter  — 
not  necessarily  learned,  wise  by  intuition.  Wisdom  and 
knowledge  are  not  synonomous  terms.  Knowledge  may 
he  the  result  of  a  good,  retentive  memory ;  wisdom  is 
gained  by  direct  spiritual  perception,  an  interior  percep¬ 
tion  able  to  lay  hold  of  direct  spiritual  illumination. 

There  are  two  classes  of  teachers  in  the  world  to-day : 
rationalists  and  intnitionalists. 

REFLECTION. 

The  “  Philosopher’s  stone  ”  means  wisdom.  It  is  the 
knowledge  of  the  law. 

Belief  is  voluntary.  One  can  hold  in  thought  or  be¬ 
lief  whatever  one  pleases,  in  regard  to  anything  or  any¬ 
body.  Belief  and  knowledge  are  not  the  same.  If  we 
absolutely  know  anything,  that  is  more  than  belief. 
Wherever  there  is  knowledge  or  demonstration,  there  is 
no  further  need  for  belief  at  all. 

MOTTO. 

The  human  soul  attains  through  effort. 

MEDITATION. 

On  every  plane  man  can  learn  more  and  more.  W^e 
are  never  called  upon  to  shift  our  basis,  but  should  be 


16 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


open  to  every  phase  of  knowledge.  Develop  broadly  — 
on  different  planes.  If  we  only  believe  a  thing,  our  be¬ 
lief  may  ehange  at  any  time ;  but  our  knowledge  is  for¬ 
ever. 


CAUSE  AND  EFFECT. 

Everything  —  no  matter  how  great  or  how  small  in 
man’s  opinion  —  is  the  result  of  law.  Man  is  the  ex¬ 
pression  of  the  law.  We  are  not  creatures  —  not  ser¬ 
vants  —  but  children  of  God. 

It  is  impossible  to  do  anything  outside  of  universal 
law. 

Many  do  not  know  the  difference  between  what  makes 
for  satisfaction,  and  what  makes  for  dissatisfaction. 

As  long  as  people  live  on  a  low  plane  of  morality, 
they  will  have  all  the  ills  that  arise  from  sensuality, 
from  worry,  from  all  irregularities. 

For  every  effect  there  must  be  a  sufficient  cause.  We 
do  not  call  every  cause  a  reason, 

W e  should  not  say  that  all  persons  who  appear  ill  are 
suffering  the  results  of  sin  in  the  theological  sense, 
though  all  sick  people  are  sinners  in  the  philosophical 
sense.  A  mistake  has  been  made  by  some  one,  and  the 
result  has  brought  about  a  condition  which  is  a  penalty, 
tliough  not  in  the  punitive  sense.  There  is  no  punish¬ 
ment  for  error,  but  thei’e  must  be  a  penalty. 

If  people  admit  that  all  the  suffering  and  sorrow  in 
the  world  is  the  .result  of  God’s  anger,  they  can  never 
hope  to  avert  it,  unless  by  some  miracle. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


17 


The  statement,  “  Whatever  is  is  right  ”  should  be, 
“Whatever  7nu8t  he  is  right” — whatever  is  in  the  law 
of  necessity,  the  unchangeable  effect  of  the  unchangeable 
cause.  An  unchangeable  cause  must  produce  an  un¬ 
changeable  effect.  We  must  aspire  in  order  to  inspire. 

People  would  never  suffer  if  they  never  needed  to 
suffer  —  if  they  never  brought  suffering  upon  them¬ 
selves.  We  do  not  overcome  pain  and  suffering  simply 
by  denying  its  existence.  All  disorder  is  mental ;  the 
physical  effect  is  only  the  result  of  a  mental  cause.  No 
one  can  alter  the  relation  between  cause  and  effect. 

Every  thought  produces  a  decided  effect  upon  the 
thinker;  and  not  only  does  it  produce  an  effect  upon 
the  thinker,  but  also  upon  all  those  who  yield  to  its  in- 
lluence  consciously  or  unconsciously. 

We  do  not  advocate  dealing  arbitrarily  with  individual 
cases.  There  is  one  Universal  Law,  which  can  be  ex¬ 
pounded  for  all  mankind.  Every  one  can  be  well  —  can 
be  happy  —  can  be  successful.  The  law  is  absolutely 
universal.  There  is  no  reason^  though  undoubtedly  a 
cause  for  people  being  ill,  unhappy,  or  in  any  way  dis¬ 
tressed. 

We  teach  most  positively  that  every  one  is  held  in 
bondage  to  the  law  he  makes  for  his  own  government. 
Laws  will  never  relax  their  hold  until  the  framers  of 
the  laws  give  them  up.  You  bind  yourself  by  your  own 
laws.  What  we  need  to  realize  is,  that  all  laws  which 
can  be  broken,  had  better  be  broken ;  the  only  law  which 
cannot  be  broken  is  the  Law  of  the  Universe.  To  break 
divine  law  is  the  only  thing  you  cannot  do.  If  you 


18 


GLINTS  OF  \yiSDOM. 


have  a  headache  it  is  not  because  you  have  broken  the 
law,  but  because  you  cannot  break  a  law  of  Nature. 
Nobody  ever  breaks  tlie  law,  because  the  law  cannot  be 
broken.  The  relation  between  cause  and  effect  is  un¬ 
changeable. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  accident ;  everything  is 
traceable  to  cause  and  effect. 

We  do  not  admit  physical  causation,  any  more  than 
the  Christian  Scientists  do.  We  admit  physical  effects, 
but  we  do  not  allow  that  the  body  is  its  own  cause. 
We  do  not  admit  that  a  pathological  condition  is  the 
result  of  physical  causation.  All  causation  is  mental. 
There  is  no  physical  causation,  but  there  are  physical 
effects. 

There  is  always  a  mental  cause  back  of  the  effect. 
What  is  cause?  The  mental  habit,  the  tendency,  the 
disposition  of  the  mind;  these  are  to  be  healed.  What 
people  commonly  call  disease  in  the  body,  we  call  the 
effect  of  disease  in  the  thougrht. 

O 

The  world  is  in  hysterics.  Why?  Because  of  the 
false  standards  of  justice  and  morality  prevailing  every¬ 
where. 

A  sensation  is  an  effect,  and  necessarily  of  something 
back  of  it  which  produces  it. 

Be  moderate  in  all  things !  Whatever  is  natural  and 
spontaneous  gives  satisfaction.  There  should  be  no 
satiety,  but  continual  satisfaction,  on  the  lower  plane ; 
till  that  which  is  higher  and  comes  later,  transfers  desire 
to  another  region  in  consciousness. 

We  are  often  too  ignorant  to  know  the  relation  be- 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM, 


19 


tween  causes  and  tlieir  effects ;  therefore  we  are  sur¬ 
prised  at  our  experiences  and  find  them  for  a  while  in¬ 
comprehensible. 

There  is  no  special  Providence,  but  there  is  a  universal 
Divine  Providence.  The  one  Divine  Law  regulates  all 
things,  from  stars  to  smallest  atoms.  The  same  law 
o^overns  in  the  least  as  in  the  gfreatest. 

Nothing  in  the  universe  transpires  except  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  a  fixed  law.  Divine  operation  continues  through 
the  operation  of  natural  law.  God  could  not  change 
the  law  of  the  universe  without  changing  himself.  The 
law  is  the  expression  of  the  law-giver.  The  effect  can¬ 
not  be  unlike  tlie  cause ;  unchangeable  cause  produces 
unchangeable  effect.  All  human  ordinances  are  subject 
to  change  ;  not  only  to  progress,  but  to  alteration.  When 
we  know  a  thing,  we  know  it  forever.  The  opportunity 
for  progress  is  in  the  natural,  inevitable  order  of  things. 
The  element  of  change  —  alteration  —  proves  that  man 
not  only  knows  too  little,  not  only  knows  now  far  less 
than  he  will  know,  but  makes  mistakes  and  blunders.  He 
does  work  that  he  will  have  to  undo,  because  he  often 
works  blindly. 

W e  often  have  to  pay  the  penalty,  in  our  own  persons, 
of  what  we  call  others  to  account  for. 

Neurasthenia  —  the  gradual  wasting  away  of  the  ner¬ 
vous  tissue  —  is  the  popular  ailment  of  the  present  age. 
Hysteria  is  just  as  common  with  men  as  with  women. 
Neurasthenia  does  not  appertain  to  one  sex  more  than 
another,  nor  to  one  age  more  tlian  another,  it  is  to  be 
found  in  all  periods  of  life,  and  in  all  occupations. 


20 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


These  ailments  —  hysteria,  neurasthenia,  impairing 
and  general  wasting  away  of  tissue  —  are  not  due  to 
over-work ;  they  are  only  due  to  worry,  A  great  many 
peo])le  are  over-worried,  not  over-worked.  The  antidotes 
to  all  these  disorders  are  purely  mental. 

If  you  do,  in  a  normal  condition,  as  much  work  as  it 
is  right  for  you  to  do,  you  will  fall  asleep,  and  sleep  as 
long  as  it  is  good  for  you  to  sleep. 

Worry  is  nothing  but  hysteria!  We  destroy  brain 
tissue  by  worrying. 

We  never  knew  a  strong  person  who  was  always  in  a 
hurry,  and  we  never  knew  a  successful  person  who  was 
always  in  a  hurry ;  people  whose  experiences  are  like  a 
see-saw  are  mentally  unbalanced. 

Watches  are  usually  too  fast  when  in  the  pockets  of 
hysterical  people. 

In  consequence  of  certain  things  being  as  they  are, 
certain  results  will  follow.  Change  the  cause  ;  trouble 
yourself  not  with  the  effect,  and  the  effect  will  take 
care  of  itself. 

AFFIRMATION. 

There  are  no  accidents.  Nothing  ever  occurs  by 
chance.  There  must  be  a  sufficient  cause  for  every 
effect.  Everything  takes  place  according  to  law. 

MEDITATION. 

Not  only  oil,  but  soapsuds,  will  calm  the  troubled  sea. 
We  can  increasingly  discover  the  Law  of  the  Universe, 
though  none  can  cliange  its  immutable  decrees.  One 
element  neutralizes  the  rage  of  another.  The  way  of 
discovery  is  open  to  every  individual. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


21 


MEDITATION. 

The  irritability  of  the  human  invalid  and  of  weak 
little  dogs  is  proverbial.  The  strongest  men  and  also 
animals  are  always  good-natured.  But  turn  to  some 
one  of  rather  less  than  average  intelligence  or  strength, 
and  you  will  find  a  person  who  resembles  a  little  sna^D- 
ping  cur,  instead  of  a  noble,  powerful  mastiff.  Little 
creatures  who  feel  their  absence  of  power,  but  would 
like  to  assume  a  power  they  do  not  possess,  are  like  little 
barking,  snapping  dogs  contrasted  with  the  finest  canines. 


LIMITATION. 

Deny  all  limitations  ;  there  are  no  limitations,  per  se. 
Unless  we  take  this  ground,  we  shall  never  succeed  in 
our  efforts  for  health  on  any  plane,  in  any  direction. 

When  we  get  beyond  all  sense  of  limitation,  we  can 
have  just  as  much  as  we  desire  to  attract.  There  is  a 
universal  supply.  Nature  is  so  bountiful  that  all  can 
have  as  much  as  they  can  hold. 

You  wish  to  overcome  a  limitation  —  then  you  will  to 
actualize  the  very  opposite  of  what  you  are  now  doing. 
You  must  let  your  will  work  quietly,  and  bring  your 
recognition  into  harmony  with  your  will  by  acknowl¬ 
edging  your  ability  to  accomplish  whatsoever  you 
desire. 

While  our  goal  is  to  be  entirely  superior  to  circum¬ 
stances,  we  are  not  entirely  superior  to  tliem  until  we 
have  grown  to  a  highly  developed  state.  We  can  grow 


22 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


to  absolute  control  over  circumstances.  This  is  not  yet 
generally  attained ;  it  is  the  ideal. 

To  be  able  to  control  all  circumstances  is  an  evidence 
of  very  high  moral  deveiopment.  One  not  so  highly 
developed  will  succumb  occasionally. 

When  you  depend  for  happiness  upon  anything,  you 
make  it  a  necessity.  As  you  make  it  a  necessity,  so  it 
is  necessary  to  you.  The  person  who  says  he  cannot  do 
without  this  or  that,  allows  it  to  become  a  necessity  to 
him.  You  say  you  cannot  get  any  information  except 
from  books ;  very  well,  you  have  made  that  a  law. 
“According  to  thy  word,  be  it  unto  thee.”  If  we  did 
not  make  laws  for  our  own  bondage,  we  could  get  all 
needed  knowledge  psychically.  It  is  just  so  with  every 
limitation  under  which  we  groan.  We  have  made  the 
limits,  and  now  we  must  break  away  from  our  limita¬ 
tions. 

We  maintain  that  all  those  limitations  which  people 
make  for  themselves  are  entirely  unnecessary,  and  should 
be  overcome.  The  mistake  is  in  thinking  that  they  can 
only  get  the  blessings  they  desire  through  a  prescribed 
media.  People  must  realize  that  according  to  their 
word,  it  is  unto  them.  The  ministration  of  second 
causes  is  not  to  be  denied ;  effects  are  produced  through 
many  agencies ;  the  power  of  external  suggestion  is  not 
to  be  denied  —  up  to  a  certain  point  —  but  the  sooner 
we  grow  above  this  the  better. 

Everything  that  is  external  keeps  you  in  a  certain 
groove ;  and  as  long  as  you  are  in  a  groove  you  can 
never  attain  true  development.  If  you  will  be  bold 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


23 


enough  to  step  out  of  all  ruts,  whatever  you  need  will 
come  to  you.  Develop  ! 

There  are  virtuous  people  so  stale  and  monotonous 
that  they  rise  to  a  certain  height,  and  never  go  above 
it ;  you  know  you  will  never  have  a  surprise  from  them. 
But  take  a  person  who  is  in  any  sense  outside  the  ordi¬ 
nary  limit  —  you  never  know  what  is  coming ;  there  is 
something  pleasurable  in  that  kind  of  uncertainty, 
for  it  savors  of  progression. 

If  you  are  going  to  place  a  limit  anywhere,  you  are 
not  open  to  a  revelation  from  the  universal  Spirit  of 
Truth  —  if  there  is  any  line  beyond  which  you  may  not 
pass.  Just  as  long  as  you  say  “  Of  course,  there’s  a 
limit,”  you  are  limited  by  that  thought ;  and  you  cannot 
go  out  into  any  larger  and  higher  thing  as  long  as  your 
own  word  confines  you  to  that  smaller  thing. 

The  age  of  man  should  be  at  least  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years.  It  takes  about  twenty  years  for  the 
human  animal  to  reach  maturity,  and  he  should  live, 
after  that,  .five  times  as  long  as  the  period  taken  to 
mature.  This  is  the  least  we  have  reason  to  expect; 
the  greater  duration  of  man’s  terrestrial  existence  when 
he  has  transcended  the  animal  within  him  is  illimitable. 

REFLECTION. 

The  word  “  only  ”  should  be  struck  out  of  our  vocab> 
ulary;  it  signifies  limitation.  We  find  ourselves  at  war 
with  all  limitation  immediately  we  place  confidence  in 
Omnipotent  Spirit. 


24 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


SERVILITY. 

The  weaker  people  are,  the  more  easily  they  can  he 
influenced  in  any  direction. 

It  is  intellectual  laziness  and  servility  that  lead 
to  so  many  of  the  ailments  of  the  present  time.  It  is 
the  combination  of  servility  and  laziness  that  produces 
all  the  ailments  extant ;  we  may  add  one  other  cause, 
anger.  To  get  rid  of  all  these,  we  must  get  rid  of  all 
limitations ;  to  get  rid  of  all  anger,  get  rid  of  all  fear, 
get  rid  of  alT  laziness,  get  rid  of  all  mental  as  well  as 
physical  servility.  Fears  manifest  tliemselves  in  dis¬ 
order.  Anger,  fear,  servility,  laziness  —  four  demons. 

When  we  have  got  rid  of  these  four,  we  have  become 
well.  We  can  then  read  Nature’s  book  without  a  hin¬ 
drance. 

It  is  the  right  and  privilege  of  every  person  to  be 
healthy,  and  it  is  equally  the  privilege  of  every  person 
to  be  free.  How  many  free  people  are  there  to-day? 
How  can  we  expect  health  in  captivity  ? 

Belief  hampers  many  people  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  are  bedridden,  because  they  believe  in  that  condi¬ 
tion.  Their  thoughts  are  so  crippled  that  they  have  not 
liberty  to  move  their  bodies. 

The  majority  of  people  to-day  cannot  account  foi 
their  diseases,  for  the  reason  that  they  take  upon  them¬ 
selves  tlie  conditions  of  people  around  them  ;  and  this  is 
because  of  their  mental  servility. 

Every  blind  following  of  a  fashion  or  custom  means 
vastly  more  to  the  mental  scientist  than  it  does  to  the 


QLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


25 


physicist.  The  mental  condition  of  which  such  an  act 
is  an  expression  matters  greatly.  We  do  not  mean,  as 
metaphysicians,  exactly  what  we  say,  when  we  object 
to  the  wearing  of  a  certain  hat ;  hut  the  mental  condi¬ 
tion,  of  which  the  hat  is  the  expression,  is  what  we  care 
about.  It  is  not  the  articles  of  clothing,  but  the  mental 
servility  which  makes  such  clothing  worn  which  can 
hold  people  in  bondage. 

The  person  who  wears  anything  he  doesn’t  like  be¬ 
comes  ill  through  the  mental  condition  Avhich  caused 
him  to  wear  it. 

When  people  do  not  dare  to  live  up  to  their  own 
honest  convictions,  they  break  the  first  commandment 
of  the  Decalogue. 

W e  must  not  wear  intellectual  corsets  and  tight  shoes, 
if  we  wish  to  become  psychically  liberated. 

Many  women  permit  themselves  to  become  psycholo¬ 
gized  by  their  husbands.  No  one  need  be  in  any  kind 
of  bondage  to  another.  The  moment  the  soul  asserts 
its  own  freedom,  it  need  never  be  under  the  control  of 
any  one — in  heaven  or  earth.  No  one  is  free  until  he 
is  self-emancipated. 


EEFLECTION. 

If  we  are  in  free  thought,  we  shall  enjoy  free  breath. 
All  disorders,  such  as  bronchial  troubles,  proceed  from 
some  bondage  in  thought. 


26 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


t 


INDIVIDUALITY. 

Our  individuality  expresses  itself  through  our  person¬ 
ality. 

You  are  the  same  individual^  but  you  are  not  the  same 
person  that  you  were  a  year  ago.  We  are  new  people 
in  old  situations. 

The  people  with  whom  we  associate  —  why  should 
we  expect  them  to  be  the  same  in  the  new  year  as  they 
were  in  the  old  ?  They  have  undergone  necessary  ex¬ 
periences  ;  they  are  not  the  same  jDCople  ;  they  are  what 
they  were  then,  plus  what  they  have  gained.  Do  not 
feel  that  you  have  to  deal  with  the  same  old  people,  in 
the  same  old  way. 

We  overcome  personal  limitation  by  discovering  our 
spiritual  individuality. 

The  personal  man  comes  from  the  dust  of  the  ground. 
The  Lord  God  is  the  spiritual  man.  The  personal  man 
is  the  copy  of  the  individual  man.  We  body  forth  our 
desires.  The  process  of  embodying  is  the  process  of 
showing  forth  what  is  contained  in  the  original.  In¬ 
dividualization  is  absolutely  necessary  in  the  copy. 

Physical  attitudes  are  results  of  mental  attitudes. 
People’s  voices  show  their  mental  conditions.  One’s 
movements  show  individuality  —  or  the  lack  of  it. 

The  q^uestion  often  arises,  “  How  is  it  that  so  many 
seemingly  good  people  are  not  well  ?  ”  Until  we  have 
become  individualized  —  have  obtained  control  of  all  our 
hidden  chambers  —  we  cannot  be  free ;  therefore  we  can¬ 
not  be  well  at  all  times,  for  we  lack  the  requisite  under¬ 
standing. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


27 


People  who  are  simply  agnostic,  or  sceptical,  are 
shallow ;  they  may  be  perfectly  sincere,  but  never  pro¬ 
found. 

The  materialist  is  a  simpleton,  though  he  may  be 
quite  sincere. 

The  trouble  is  in  our  not  thinking  rightly  of  ourselves 
and  others ;  we  are  not  sufficiently  independent  and  in¬ 
dividualized.  That  false  humility  which  makes  us  think 
others  better  than  ourselves  is  as  detestable  in  the  light 
of  science  as  the  stupid  pride  which  is  the  other  extreme. 

What  is  needed  to-day  is  an  adventurous  soul  that 
will  break  the  bonds  of  all  conventionality. 

Perfect  individualization  is  necessary  to  the  highest 
morality  as  well  as  health.  There  is  no  morality  in  in¬ 
justice  ;  where  there  is  no  justice,  there  is  no  morality. 

It  is  the  woman  who  has  to  do  with  the  little  infant. 
The  great  thing  for  woman  to  do  to-day  is  to  hold  her¬ 
self  in  respect,  in  the  silence,  as  well  as  in  the  spoken 
word.  Woman’s  power  psychically  is  far  greater  than 
her  power  physically. 

Woman  holds  an  enormous  spiritual  power,  of  which 
she  is  for  the  most  part  unaware. 

When  people  are  tempted  and  tried,  what  does  it 
mean  ?  It  means  that  they  are  upon  their  metal.  They 
are  being  tested.  Thus,  character  is  developed.  If  you 
could  always  see  the  Divine  countenance,  then  you 
would  be  less  than  a  hero.  Stand  upon  your  own  metal, 
and  reach  the  point  where  conscience  becomes  an  infal¬ 
lible  guide.  Everything  that  puts  people  upon  their 
own  footing  is  of  the  utmost  value  to  them. 


28 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


Every  individual  must  come  into  a  conscious  knowl¬ 
edge  of  how  to  regulate  his  own  life.  As  long  as  we 
depend  upon  other  people,  we  do  not  decide  for  our¬ 
selves,  therefore  we  cannot  become  individualized. 

Man  must  dominate  the  earth  as  represented  within 
himself,  before  he  can  dominate  the  earth  around  him. 
Man  can  rise  entirely  superior  to  all  the  lower  influences 
around  him,  but  only  by  first  gaining  the  needed  victory 
within  his  own  economy. 

We  are  capable  of  unfolding  the  Divine  within  us, 
because  we  have  it  to  unfold.  Man  is  a  spiritual  entity 
here  and  now.  Man’s  body  is  his  own ;  he  claims  the 
right  of  ownership.  Is  it  right  for  the  master  —  the 
spirit  —  to  control  the  flesh  ?  or,  is  it  right  for  the  flesh 
to  dominate  the  spirit? 

It  is  our  individuality  that  needs  to  be  recognized. 
To  do  this  is  where  people  fail  so  lamentably. 

The  greater  the  manifestation  of  life,  the  nobler  the 
form  appears. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a  form  as  a  means 
of  expression  on  any  plane.  When  we  no  longer  have 
the  physical  body,  we  shall  sustain  the  psychical  body 
—  in  its  own  way.  We  can  only  build  up  the  physical 
body  in  a  psychical  way. 

This  physical  body  must  be  perfected  before  we  ex¬ 
change  it  for  a  higher  body. 

To  have  a  body  that  would  serve  the  spirit  perfectly, 
would  be  to  have  a  body  volatile  —  a  body  that  would 
come  and  go  at  will  — -  not  a  body  of  bones  and  sinews, 
flesh  and  blood. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


29 


The  psychic  body  can  be  made  perfectly  tractable  —  be¬ 
coming  visible  and  invisible,  at  will.  A  body  entirely 
under  the  control  of  the  will  of  its  owner  can  be  mate¬ 
rialized  or  dematerialized  at  its  owner’s  pleasure. 

The  difference  between  one  form  of  life  and  another 
is  that  one  expresses  more  life  than  another.  It  is  only 
a  question  of  the  lesser  and  the  greater  that  decides  the 
value  of  expressions. 

Every  one  who  believes  in  an  angry  God  worships 
not  the  Divinity  within  him,  but  the  animality. 

What  people  call  rebellion  against  God  is  really  a 
phase  in  the  development  of  their  lives.  All  the  records 
of  the  fall  of  man  and  God’s  consequent  anger  are 
falsely  interpreted,  owing  to  our  ignorance.  God  has 
always  been  looking  on  man  with  perfect  complaisance, 
satisfied  with  his  own  work. 

Lucifer,  according  to  Milton’s  “  Paradise  Lost,”  says, 
“  I  had  rather  rule  in  Hell  than  serve  in  Heaven  ”  ;  and 
the  opportunity  was  given  him.  The  fall  of  Lucifer 
represents  the  human  soul  falling  into  the  kingdom  of 
materiality,  developing  its  own  self-consciousness,  and 
determining  to  reign  in  its  own  kingdom.  We  do  not 
believe  that  man  ever  fell  in  a  manner  to  offend  God. 

Man,  before  the  fall,  according  to  the  spiritual  theory, 
lived  in  a  natal  paradise.  The  soul,  in  that  primeval 
paradise,  was  perfectly  conscious,  but  not  self-conscious  ; 
we  must  discriminate  between  consciousness  and  self- 
consciousness.  When  we  add  self-consciousness  to  con¬ 
sciousness,  self-consciousness  is  a  desirable  acquisition  ; 
the  simple  consciousness  remains,  but  the  self-conscious- 


30 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


ness  being  added,  we  are  not  content  to  know  that  we 
are  alive,  but  ask  why  we  live,  and  what  we  are  living 
for. 

The  account  of  Jesus  putting  the  little  child  in  the 
midst  of  the  people  illustrates  this.  The  child  is  an  in¬ 
terrogation-point,  a  query.  The  child  is  determined  to 
develop  self-consciousness. 

The  little  child  is  a  symbol  of  the  individual  fii'st 
awakening  to  self-consciousness. 

INTERROGATION. 

Our  individuality  persists  now,  in  spite  of  all  the 
changes  of  the  body.  Why  should  it  be  destroyed  when 
we  lay  oft  this  body  ? 

MOTTO. 

Character  is  something  one  has  to  develop  within 
himself.  A  reputation  may  be  bought ;  a  character  must 
be  earned. 

MEDITATION. 

If  you  are  worthy  of  a  recommendation,  you  do  not 
need  one ;  if  you  want  one  you  are  not  worth  it. 

MOTTO. 

One  cannot  make  a  decided  impression  when  he  him¬ 
self  is  undecided. 


MENTAL  HEALING. 

Metaphysical  means  beyond  the  physical.  There 
could  not  be  a  metaphysical  if  there  were  no  physical. 
There  must  be  a  physical  to  admit  of  a  metaphysical. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


31 


He  is  a  metaphysician  who  goes  all  the  way  the  phy¬ 
sicist  may  go,  and  then  transcends  this  limit. 

What  is  mental  healing?  Mental  healing  is  accom¬ 
plished  educationally.  You  can  overcome  whatever  you 
will  to  overcome ;  there  are  no  limitations  that  can  hold 
you  any  longer  than  you  are  passive  to  be  held  by  them. 
It  is  not  the  will  of  the  people  that  we  have  to  change  in 
metaphysical  healing,  so  much  as  to  enlarge  their  under¬ 
standing.  Just  so  long  as  people  believe  that  they  have 
to  be  unfortunate,  they  will  not  succeed.  There  must 
be  co-operation  of  the  will  with  the  understanding.  A 
ver}^  necessary  mental  attitude  to  take  when  giving  a 
treatment  is,  that  unless  you  admit  that  you  have  the 
power  to  do  anything,  you  cannot  do  it.  In  giving  a 
mental  treatment,  you  must  admit  that  your  patient  has 
both  the  will  and  the  power  to  express  the  state  he  de¬ 
sires  to  manifest. 

In  treating  one’s  self,  let  the  will  alone,  but  appeal  to 
the  intellect.  Come  to  realize  that  all  good  will  can 
be  called  into  effect. 

All  pathological  conditions  are  abnormal.  We  alloAv 
no  place  for  unhappiness,  no  place  for  failure ;  these  are 
abortions,  not  necessary  to  the  complete  work  of  Nature. 
No  one  need  be  ill,  no  one  need  be  unhapp}^  no  one 
need  fail ;  there  need  be  no  disorder  in  the  world  ;  these 
are  entirely  unnecessary. 

Society  is  a  sick  man,  and  you  have  to  treat  society  — • 
just  as  you  would  an  individual.  How  shall  you  pre¬ 
scribe  for  it  ? 

You  must  take  people  as  you  find  them;  but  do  not 


32 


GLINTS  OF  \Y1SD0M. 


leave  them  as  you  found  them.  Your  influence  must  be 
to  lift  the  world  to  u  state  that  it  was  not  in  when  you 
found  it. 

One  who  has  more  than  ordinary  access  to  the  unseen 
realm  can  help  others  —  on  their  own  plane  ;  and  then, 
just  as  you  take  your  children  and  educate  them,  you  . 
take  grown  people  along.  Make  any  present  “  craze  ” 
or  ‘‘  fad  ” —  if  people  choose  to  call  it  so  —  a  means  of 
taking  people  along  acknowledged  paths  to  something 
higher- — to  the  discovery  of  the  soul. 

The  true  idea  of  mental  healing  is  that  one  can  help 
another  into  similar  harmonious  relation  with  the  uni¬ 
versal  supply. 

A  great  many  tilings  are  spoken  of  in  the  plural ;  but 
the  intelligent  mental  healer  is  one  who  endeavors  to 
bring  everything  to  a  point  of  unity.  There  are  many 
expressions  of  one  universal  and  entire  interest.  Human 
nature  is  in  all  respects  a  unit ;  all  the  interests  of  man¬ 
kind  are  positively  one. 

The  word  “  healing  ”  means,  properly,  “  making 
whole.” 

We  meet  many  people  who  were  born  feeble,  both 
physically  and  mentally.  When  metaphysical  healing 
was  first  presented  to  the  public,  we  heard  much  of  peo¬ 
ple  applying  to  be  cured  of  various  complaints  and  dis¬ 
eases  ;  and  they  talked  about  “  mind  cure.”  Mind  cure 
’might  mean  the  healing  of  the  mind  when  feeble.  But 
metaphysical  healing  includes  every  branch  of  therapeu¬ 
tic  practice  ;  there  is  no  possible  ailment,  or  lack  of 
health,  which  it  does  not  undertake  to  cure  or  supply, 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


33 


as  the  case  may  be.  It  rests  upon  only  one  basis,  man’s 
ability  to  rise  above  every  conceivable  limitation. 

Every  treatment  that  you  give,  that  is  given  wisely 
and  well,  is  in  recognition  of  a  state  not  yet  attained, 
but  which  can  be  attained  —  and  the  more  easily  with 
your  aid. 

All  negative  processes  —  all  processes  that  aim  simply 
at  eviction  of  disorder  —  are  on  the  wrong  side.  The 
true  metapliysical  healer  does  not  undertake  to  fight 
disease.  As  we  claim  that  the  condition  of  the  flesh  is 
due  to  the  condition  of  the  blood,  and  the  condition  of 
the  blood  is  due  to  the  condition  of  the  thought,  it 
follows  that  if  the  thought  be  pure,  the  blood  will  be 
pure  and  ultimately  the  flesh  likewise. 

It  is  affirmed  by  many  talented  physicians  that  all  dis¬ 
orders  proceed  from  derangement  of  the  lymph  or  the 
blood. 

People  cannot  avail  themselves  of  the  benefit  ex¬ 
pected  from  outward  conditions  unless  in  a  mental  con¬ 
dition  to  receive  benefit. 

Send  out  a  thought  which  will  place  before  the  mental 
eye  of  the  student  or  patient  a  state  which  expresses 
what  you  and  he  alike  wish  to  see  expressed. 

We  do  not  apply  mental  healing  to  physical  disease, 
but  to  the  mental  disease  which  produces  the  physical 
effect.  No  intelligent  mental  healer  ever  attempts  to 
treat  people’s  bodies  with  his  mind,  but  to  instruct  them 
by  a  mental  process  in  the  science  of  so  thinking  that 
their  bodies  must  express  outwardly  the  harmony  which 
is  within. 


34 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


We  cannot  successfully  treat  any  part  of  the  body 
alone ;  treat  the  body  as  a  whole,  through  the  mind. 

Our  contention  has  always  been  against  specialism  in 
metaphysical  treatment,  because  every  part  of  the  body 
is  related  vitally  with  the  whole.  No  matter  what  the 
malady,  you  must  deed  with  the  human  organism  as  a 
whole.  In  o  one  can  intelligently  deal  with  any  part  of 
the  body  without  dealing  with  the  whole  organism  of 
which  the  oi'gan  is  a  part. 

Do  not  treat,  in  any  sense  whatever,  with  a  disease ; 
never  deal  with  an  eye,  or  an  ear,  or  any  organ,  as  a 
part ;  but  with  the  Avhole  system,  which  includes  the 
seat  of  the  abnormal  function. 

There  is  no  occasion  for  any  quari-el  between  physi¬ 
cians  and  metaphysicians ;  the  one  is  dealing  with  a 
physical,  the  otlier  with  a  mental  condition.  While  the 
metaphysician  is  dealing  with  our  thoughts,  the  physi¬ 
cian  is  dealing  with  our  physical  systems. 

There  is  not  anything  like  the  fanaticism  in  the  medi¬ 
cal  profession  that  is  supposed  to  exist.  Many  in  it  are 
acting  in  accordance  with  their  best  light. 

The  regular  ph3-sicians  —  many  of  them  —  are  thor¬ 
ough  metaphysicians  ;  a  great  many  of  them  are  true 
ps^^chical  healers. 

In  metaphysics,  the  apparent  evil  is  not  called  a  dis¬ 
ease,  but  the  result,  the  effect  of  a  disease  —  mental;  in 
physics,  it  is  called  a  disease. 

We  deny  that  any  disease  is  ph}^sical,  but  we  do  not 
deny  the  physical  effects  of  disease.  We  say  that  dis¬ 
cord  is  mental ;  all  disease  is  mental.  But  just  as  you 


GLINTS  OP  WISDOM. 


35 


might  say,  from  a  physical  standpoint,  that  the  disease 
is  physical  and  produces  mental  effects,  we  say  that  dis¬ 
ease  is  mental  and  produces  physical  effects. 

One  tumor  may  be  removed ;  then  another  forms, 
another,  and  still  another.  Why  ?  Because  the  method 
of  cure  is  entirely  false  ;  the  reasoning  is  false ;  the  dis¬ 
ease  is  mental,  and  the  tumor  is  its  consequence.  If 
you  remove  that  physical  effect  or  consequence,  you  are 
not  destroying  the  disease^  any  more  than  you  are  de¬ 
stroying  the  hair  by  shaving.  As  long  as  the  root 
remains  —  which  is  the  mental  condition  of  the  patient 
—  so  long  the  liability  or  susceptibility  remains ;  there 
is,  therefore,  no  guarantee  or  security  of  any  sort  that 
there  will  not  be  a  relapse,  and  that  the  last  state  of  that 
patient  may  not  be  worse  than  the  first. 

We  should  not  undertake  to  cure  bv  attacking  disease. 

t/  O 

Never  oppose  any  disorder  as  such,  but  undertake  to  in¬ 
vigorate  the  system,  so  as  to  effect  a  harmony  that  will 
expel  the  fruits  of  any  disorder  already  in  the  system. 

Let  us  consider  the  utter  fallacy  of  seeking  to  turn 
out  a  disease.  If  you  undertake  to  fight  a  disease,  and 
you  overcome  it  as  if  it  were  an  entity,  you  turn  one 
devil  out ;  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  event  recorded  in 
the  Bible,  into  the  man  out  of  whom  one  devil  was  driven, 
seven  others  entered,  so  that  the  last  state  of  that  man 
was  worse  than  the  first,  so  many  other  devils  —  or  dis¬ 
eases  —  come  in  to  take  the  place  of  those  expelled.  The 
vacuum  left  by  turning  out  one  devil  opens  the  way  for 
more  to  enter. 

t 

The  true  spiritual  scientist  is  not  chiefly  interested  in 


36 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


mere  recovery  or  restitution,  but  in  helping  onward  the 
individual  treated  to  a  higher  plane  than  he  had  ever 
previously  reached. 

As  we  develop  on  to  higher  planes,  we  cannot  be  sus¬ 
ceptible  to  disorders  as  we  were  on  lower  planes. 

Quite  a  few  mental  healers  do  a  great  deal  of  injury, 
both  to  themselves  and  their  patients,  by  false  beliefs  of 
their  own. 

The  cause  of  our  illness  may  be  our  false  belief  in  re¬ 
gard  to  the  thoughts  of  people  around  us  toward  our¬ 
selves. 

If  you  have  any  ill-feeling  toward  any  one,  you  de¬ 
serve  to  be  ill. 

You  cannot  enter  into  heavenly  societies  when  you 
are  out  of  love  to  your  neighbor.  If  there  is  any  hatred 
in  your  heart  toward  any  being,  you  will  be  ill  —  and 
you  need  the  illness. 

There  are  two  distinct  factors  in  healing :  first,  the 
knowledge  of  what  to  do ;  second,  the  doing  of  what  is 
necessary  to  be  done. 

If  we  have  not  clear  knowledge,  it  is  hit  or  miss  with 
us ;  sometimes  we  succeed,  and  sometimes  we  fail. 

What  has  produced  a  cure  in  days  of  old  will  always 
produce  a  cure  in  days  to  come. 

The  word  and  faith  cured  people  of  old,  and  the  same 
word  with  faith  cures  people  now.  “According  to  thy 
word  be  it  unto  thee  ”  holds  good  still.  But  the  people 
have  walked  in  ignorance,  regardless  of  the  power  dis¬ 
played  in  the  undeviating  working  of  Nature’s  law. 

We  must  look  for  the  common  ground  of  healing 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


37 


methods ;  underneath  all  superstructures  there  is  the 
same  foundation ;  that  foundation  is,  that  there  is  a  law 
of  health  in  the  universe ;  and  when  the  way  is  opened, 
vital  power  will  rush  in. 

A  great  many  people  would  rather  pay  a  large  bill 
for  the  privilege  of  swallowing  medicine,  than  a  small 
bill  for  instruction.  This  is  intellectual  laziness. 

There  is  no  more  disgusting  work  than  trying  to 
probe  out  disease.  The  worst  work  ever  done  by  men¬ 
tal  healers  is  trying  to  diagnose  sickness.  It  is  a  rem¬ 
nant  of  the  old  methods ;  it  is  not  yours  if  3^our  methods 
are  spiritual  or  metaph^^sical.  What  people  call  disease 
is  an  effect  or  result  of  disease.  If  people  say  their 
ej^es  are  dim,  that  is  not  a  disease ;  it  is  the  expression 
of  a  mental  state  of  dimness.  We  should  not  care  to 
know  what  people  commonly  call  disease,  because  what 
they  call  disease  is  only  the  effect  of  disease.  We  care 
far  more  for  the  physician  who  t^lls  us  how  to  get  out 
of  difficulty  than  for  the  one  who  diagnoses  the  disease. 

A  good  Chinese  idea  of  the  province  of  a  doctor  is  to 
pay  him  while  the  people  are  well,  instead  of  when  ill. 
The  true  mission  of  the  doctor  should  be  to  keep  people 
well,  not  chiefly  to  cure  them  when  sick. 

All  the  best  teachers  to-day,  who  are  undertaking  to 
heal  the  sick,  are  steering  clear  of  the  old  saying  that 
people  are  not  suffering  pain.  They  admit  that  pains 
and  sufferings  exist,  but  claim  that  they  are  only  tem¬ 
poral  and  they  are  remedial.  Just  as  soon  as  we  dis¬ 
cover  the  law,  and  obey  all  its  precepts,  we  shall  suffer 
not  one  more  twinge  of  pain  —  not  one  more  pang  of 


sorrow. 


38 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


Our  senses  are  not  false  witnesses  when  normal,  but 
they  testify  inadequately.  We  treat  our  senses  as  we 
would  witnesses  on  the  stand ;  some  can  throw  but  little 
light  on  the  matter,  others  have  more  important  testi¬ 
mony  to  offer.  We  have  to  employ  our  intellect  —  our 
reason  —  to  help  out  the  testimony  of  the  senses.  We 
hold  that  all  the  senses  of  man  bring  in  a  limited  amount 
of  testimony,  but  the  bulk  is  inadequate. 

A  well-ordered  life  gives  the  greatest  attention  to  the 
vital  organs ;  and  mental  healing  will  affect  lungs  and 
heart  when  it  will  not  touch  the  hair,  because  treatment 
goes  to  the  centre  of  the  organism.  Hair  is  only  a  cov¬ 
ering  and  an  ornament.  What  is  most  vital  and  internal 
builds  up  first,  and  then  the  spare  force  goes  to  the 
integuments. 


GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

The  spiritual  gift  of  healing  is  like  unto  a  vase  of 
roses  —  imparting  fragrance  to  the  atmosphere  of  a  room. 

MEDITATION. 

In  mental  treatment  we  can  reach  the  internal  organs 
long  before  we  can  reach  the  skin,  because  all  expres¬ 
sion  is  from  within  outward. 

The  greatest  mistake  is  in  thinking  to  change  any¬ 
thing  on  the  outside  ;  we  cannot  change  things  from  the 
outside,  but  must  always  work  from  within  outward. 

Do  not  treat  people  only,  but  treat  places.  Leave 
your  best  thought  everywhere.  When  you  leave  your 
helpful  thought,  you  leave  a  rich  blessing. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


39 


INVERSION. 

The  present  disordered  state  of  society  is  shown  by 
the  language  of  the  people. 

All  error  and  seeming  evil  should  be  regarded  as  in¬ 
version  —  like  an  angel  standing  on  his  head ;  as  illus¬ 
trated  by  Swedenborg,  in  his  description  of  the  “  celes¬ 
tial  ”  and  the  “  infernal  ”  standing  feet  to  feet ;  the 
celestial  standing  upright,  the  infernal  showing  the  in¬ 
version.  All  disorders  are  inversions. 

■'Things  are  not  good  and  evil  in  themselves;  things 
only  appear  evil  when  inverted  or  distorted.  Everything, 
when  known  for  what  it  is,  is  assuredly  good. 

As  man  has  within  himself  the  divine  element,  so  he 
has  also  the  element  of  animality  within  him ;  and, 
sometimes,  he  yields  to  the  temptation  of  the  lower, 
which  endeavors  to  dominate  the  higher ;  then  he  ex¬ 
periences  evil.  When  he  gives  place  to  the  highest 
within  him,  he  knows  only  good.  Very  seldom  do  we 
strike  the  golden  chord  of  love  to  all  mankind.  At  one 
time,  we  are  extremely  altruistic ;  at  another,  intensely 
egotistic.  We  are  thus  always  contending  between 
emotions ;  we  are  between  two  fires,  listening  to  two 
voices.  We  hear  the  voice  of  God,  and  the  voice  of  the 
serpent.  When  we  try  to  obey  the  two,  we  produce 
confusion. 

‘‘  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone  !  ”  To  merely 
gratify  the  animal  propensities  is  to  live  a  starved  life. 
When  the  soul  is  starved,  the  body  gets  starved.  Unfed 
conditions  of  the  soul  produce  wasting  diseases,  nervous 


40 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


debility,  anaemia.  The  only  way  to  conquer  all  this  is 
to  realize  that  the  soul  gets  hungry ;  the  soul  calls  out 
for  its  dinner.  You  are  feeding  your  bodies  all  the  time 
and  often  starving  your  souls.  When  we  come  into 
harmony,  we  feed  the  soul,  and  thus  allow  the  soul  its 
fair  opportunity  to  regulate  the  body. 

A  great  many  people  honestly  entertain  the  fallacy 
that  if  they  were  to  be  thoroughly  honest  in  their  busi¬ 
ness  dealings,  they  would  have  to  starve.  Starvation  or 
dishonesty  is  not  the  alternative.  We  can  carry  out 
the  Golden  Rule  in  our  business  and  social  relations, 
and  be  splendid  social  and  business  successes.  We  do 
not  say  you  can  become  a-several-times-millionaire  and 
do  it ;  but  you  can  be  in  perfectly  comfortable  circum¬ 
stances. 

It  is  not  what  a  person  believes,  or  what  a  person  in¬ 
tellectually  adheres  to  or  perceives,  but  whether  the 
mental  window  is  open  or  closed.  Health  is  the  normal, 
disease  an  abnormal  condition ;  instead  of  health  being 
a  rare  acquisition,  or  very  hard  to  maintain,  we  find 
that  animals  —  except  in  captivity  —  enjoy  perfect  health. 
An  animal  in  captivity  is  in  an  abnormal  state,  and 
hence,  subject  to  illnesses  unknown  in  the  natural  state. 
We  find  birds  ill,  in  cages;  but  we  have  no  reason  for 
inferring  that  the  same  birds  would  be  subject  to  such 
ailments  if  free,  in  their  natural  condition. 

Natural  instinct  belongs  to  man  as  well  as  to  animals  ; 
if  we  did  not  deny  our  normal  instincts,  we  would  be 
well. 

The  health  of  civilized  communities  is  vastly  lower 


GLINTS  OF  AVISDOM. 


41 


than  it  is  in  savage  states.  Bnt  the  theory  that  the 
more  highly  intellectnal  people  become,  the  poorer  their 
health,  is  to  be  denied,  except  as  methods  of  culture 
may  be  artificial  and  unnatural.  If  every  faculty  of 
mind  and  body  is  strained  to  the  utmost,  if  nearly  all  the 
measures  resorted  to  are  abnormal,  it  is  not  physiology, 
it  is  pathology  that  is  accountable  for  an  enfeebled  con¬ 
dition. 

Education  is  conducive  to  health  and  strength. 
Health  is  the  normal  play  of  all  the  faculties,  and  edu¬ 
cation  is  a  delightful  stimulus  to  all  the  organism. 

The  natural,  normal  life,  is  a  life  where  everything  is 
beautiful.  So  far  as  beauty  is  concerned,  it  is  a  means 
of  grace.  Beautiful  form  and  beautiful  color  may  be 
regarded  as  steps  toward  Heaven  —  Heaven  is  altogether 
beautiful.  There  is  nothing  conducive  to  spiritual 
growth  in  wearing  ugly  clothing,  or  in  being  plain  and 
unattractive,  or  in  living  upon  poor  food. 

Anything  obtained  without  doing  any  injury  to  others 
is  perfectly  right  —  speaking  of  the  accumulation  of 
property.  We  do  not  for  one  moment  believe  that  it  is 
•  wrong  to  appropriate  the  beauties  of  the  earth ;  tlie  error 
is  in  placing  them  in  a  false  position. 

MOTTO. 

Never  dissociate  the  secular  from  the  sacred.  Sanc¬ 
tify  the  secular,  but  do  not  desecrate  the  sacred.  In 
order  to  be  spiritual  we  do  not  have  to  give  up  any- 
thiim :  but  we  do  have  to  fit  the  conduct  of  life  to  the 
truth. 


42 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


MEDITATION. 

You  cannot  have  too  much  of  a  good  thing.  Only  a 
thing  that  is  itself  an  inversion  creates  an  abnormal 
craving.  That  is  the  rule  in  all  spiritual,  artistic,  musi¬ 
cal  and  other  desirable  pursuits. 

REFLECTION. 

There  must  be  a  place  for  everything,  and  everything 
must  be  in  its  right  place  —  for  perfect  harmony.  When 
a  thing  is  not  in  its  own  place  it  is  evil  in  appearance  — 
not  in  reality.  Disorder  is  an  inversion.  There  is  no 
unhappiness,  no  pain,  that  is  not  due  to  inversion.  The 
cure  for  ignorance  is  always  more  knowledge. 

There  is  a  divinity  in  things  seemingly  evil.  Evil  is 
a  question  of  undue  proportion.  We  shall  understand 
this  when  we  learn  that  evil  is  not  real  but  is  simply 
disorder. 


LIBERALISM. 

There  is  a  central  spiritual  philosophy  upon  which  all 
the  religions  in  the  world  rest. 

People  mistake  fractions  for  the  whole;  that  is  the 
cause  of  all  the  discord  in  regard  to  the  different  schools 
of  science.  All  sciences  are  fractional  expressions  of 
one  Universal  Science.  The  fractional  statements  which 
we  continually  hear  may  be  resolved  into  one,  by  con¬ 
centration  upon  the  idea  of  Universal  Truth. 

One  of  the  most  pitiable  sights  in  the  world  is  that  of 
people  trying  to  find  wherein  they  disagree,  instead  of 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


43 


trying  to  find  their  points  of  contact.  Humanity  would 
be  saved  if  every  one  would  only  give  up  his  label  or 
his  tag. 

Whatever  makes  for  harmony  makes  for  health.  As 
long  as  we  have  any  prejudices  or  antipathies,  we  shall 
be  ill.  We  cannot  be  well  until  these  are  done  away 
with. 

We  should  do  away  with  the  word  “toleration”  and 
take  instead  the  word  “  appreciation  ”  ;  thus,  instead  of 
tolerating  our  neighbors,  we  should  come  to  appreciate 
them. 

We  must  attribute  to  no  one  a  motive  that  we  would 
not  like  to  have  applied  to  ourselves.  People  make 
many  mistakes  and  blunders,  no  matter  how  honest. 
And  we  must  take  the  very  same  ground  in  correcting 
one  class  of  ailments  that  we  would  in  correcting  any 
other  error. 

We  should  be  glad  to  have  our  mistakes  pointed  out 
to  us,  so  that  we  can  correct  them ;  but  no  one  has  the 
right  to  impute  an  unworthy  motive  to  any  one. 

A  spiritual  revelation  is  not  to  point  out  an  error  for 
the  sake  of  exposing  it,  but  to  give  the  people  something 
higher  in  place  of  it  —  something  they  could  get  in  no 
other  way. 

Spiritual  power  has  for  a  long  time  been  suppressed ; 
but  people  to-day,  on  their  own  account,  are  going  feai'- 
lessiy  to  work  investigating  their  own  nature. 

We  have  nothing  to  say  to  the  happy  and  contented, 
except  that  we  are  glad  there  are  people  in  the  world 
who  are  happy  and  contented.  If  they  are  so,  they  are 


44 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


right  —  on  their  plane  ;  they  may  be  in  a  state  of  mate¬ 
riality;  they  are  naked  and  not  ashamed  —  unfallen 
Adams  and  Eves.  If  one  is  content  with  his  present 
condition,  we  have  nothing  to  say,  except  to  rejoice  in 
his  contentment. 

If  you  invite  a  person  to  go  to  the  Father’s  house  be¬ 
fore  he  is  ready  to  go,  the  invitation  lacks  everything  of 
pleasure  or  profit  to  his  mind. 

W e  should  never  try  to  restrict  others  by  what  agrees 
with  ourselves. 

We  should  remain  insular,  if  we  held  narrowly  to  one 
creed  or  cult.  Every  cult  is  too  small,  and  every  creed 
loo  narrow.  This  is  well  shown  in  the  metaphor  of  four 
persons  going  up  the  four  sides  of  a  mountain.  All 
were  honest  in  their  convictions,  but  each  travelling  a 
separate  path  had,  necessarily,  a  different  view;  and 
each  claimed  that  his  particular  view  was  all  there  was 
to  be  seen.  Argument  and  dispute  arose*  among  those 
four  short-sighted  but  perfectly  honest  people.  The 
gift  of  seeing  the  four  sides  of  the  mountain  at  one  view 
is  only  enjoyed  by  one  who  has  reached  the  top.  The 
one  who  has  had  this  wider  experience  —  standing  upon 
the  height  —  is  able  to  look  in  all  the  different  directions, 
and  to  see  where  the  various  roads  lead. 

Criticise  not,  unless  you  wish  to  be  criticised.  When 
you  criticise  a  song,  it  is  yourself  that  you  criticise. 
One  critic  interprets  one  way,  another  interprets  another 
way;  they  can  only  tell  how  it  strikes  them.  No  one 
makes  any  progress  in  spiritual  development  until  he  is 
perfectly  willing  to  read  all  reviews,  but  not  to  be 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


45 


guided  by  them.  Never  allow  anybody  else’s  mind  to 
act  for  you  to  the  suppression  of  your  own. 

One  star  (or  sun)  is  of  orange  hue,  another  blue, 
another  red,  and  so  on ;  yet  all  those  suns  are  equally 
beautiful,  resplendent,  magnificent.  So  is  it  with  flow¬ 
ers  —  so  is  it  with  trees,  birds,  gems.  One  differs  from 
another  in  its  phase,  not  necessarily  in  its  degree  of 
beauty.  So,  in  hninan  society,  we  find  that  all  gifts  of 
the  spirit  are  of  equal  value,  and  equally  interesting  — 
if  Ave  know  how  to  employ  them  aright. 

One  who  has  come  into  spiritual  understanding  has 
no  favorite  floAvers.  Because  you  love  the  roses,  there 
is  no  reason  why  you  should  not  also  love  the  lilies.  A 
larger  conception  enables  us  to  rejoice  in  all  the  forms 
of  beauty  we  behold  in  the  universe.  They  each  have 
their  own  mission  to  fulfil,  and  we  must  know  ourselves 
in  relation  to  all  of  them  alike. 

The  greatest  teachers  have  always  been  super-personal 
and  super-systematic. 

,  The  perfection  of  a  man  differs  from  the  perfection  of 
a  woman.  There  can  be  perfection  in  all  states.  Per¬ 
fection  may  go  along  from  birth  to  maturity,  manifesting 
on  rising  planes. 

We  must  stand  for  universal  brotherhood  and  sister¬ 
hood  ;  there  must  be  no  sex  qualification  anywhere.  We 
maintain  that  man  and  w'oman  are  the  joint  expressions 
of  the  one  super-personal  God. 

“  I  take  great  comfort  in  God,”  said  Lowell.  People 
have  been  taught  to  fear  God  in  the  Avrong  Avay.  There 
is  a  great  deal  of  religious  hysteria  in  the  Avorld  to-day. 


46 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


In  all  ages,  there  has  been  established  precedent  in  the 
way  of  all  life  —  in  the  way  of  all  progress.  There  has 
always  been  a  very  large  Cancer  in  the  Zodiac,  a  Crab, 
whose  tendency  has  been  to  oppose  everything  new. 

Whatever  is  asserted  is  for  investigation ;  all  is  for 
consideration;  no  one  should  accept  without  question 
the  sayings  of  any  person. 

It  is  not  liberality  to  go  down  into  the  dirt  because 
your  neighbor  is  down  there ;  remain  on  the  heights 
yourself,  and  beckon  him  up.  Don’t  try  to  get  even 
Avith  people,  but  help  them  to  get  even  with  you  ;  then 
there  will  be  two  of  you  on  the  heights,  instead  of  two 
of  you  in  the  gutter. 

All  truth,  all  honor,  if  it  is  going  to  do  any  practical 
good,  must  go  down  among  the  “  evil  ”  and  rescue  them. 
How  can  Ave  expect  the  annihilation  of  evil  —  the  reform 
of  girls  and  Avomen  in  all  sorts  of  horrible  places  — 
Avhen  Ave  hold  ourselves  aloof  ?  There  is  no  Avay  to  help 
these  girls  and  Avomen  to  rise  to  the  ideal  of  noble 
Avomanhood,  except  by  going  among  them  and  lifting 
them  up. 

If  you  associate  Avith  people  on  any  plane,  objective 
or  subjective,  Avho  are  beloAV  you  in  groAvth  and  moral 
character,  and  you  turn  to  them  in  blessing,  instead  of 
their  cursing  you,  you  Avill  do  them  good ;  and  you  Avill 
never  get  any  harm,  as  you  Avill  never  do  anything  but 

Learn  from  the  strong  ones ;  give  instruction  to  the 
less  advanced. 

What  is  a  temptation  to  one  is  not  a  temptation  to 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


47 


another ;  what  is  an  attraction  to  one  is  not  so  to 
another. 

Put  the  right  kind  of  temptation  in  people’s  way ;  a 
temptation  is  not  simply  something  you  can  comprehend 
with  your  bodily  senses. 

The  best  and  highest  treatment  is  to  put  spiritual 
temptation  to  a  nobler  state  within  the  reach  of  every 
one. 

GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

Do  not  think  your  altitude  is  your  own  special  prop¬ 
erty  ;  it  is  to  enable  you  to  help  others. 

MEDITATION. 

Deep  down  in  the  nature  of  every  one  there  is  a 
settled  conviction  that  it  makes  a  person  worse  to  call 
him  evil,  and  better  to  call  him  good. 

DEFLECTION. 

God’s  law  is  only  diml}^  shadowed  forth  in  the  purest 
human  legislation. 

UNIVERSAL  STATEMENT. 

God  is  the  parent  of  all  humanity.  Woman  is  as 
much  God’s  image  as  man  is. 


THE  COMING  RELIGION. 

The  universal  religion  is  the  religion  of  science. 

You  may  take  seven  different  systems  of  religion  — 
they  are  all  right,  like  the  seven  rays  of  the  rainbow. 


48 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


the  seven  tones  in  the  musical  scale  —  each  right  in  its 
own  place ;  but  no  one  of  them  can  be  the  scale. 

Every  later  revelation  contains  all  the  truth  that  the 
older  revelation  embodied. 

It  makes  no  difference  where  the  body  is,  Heaven  is 
as  near  to  us  in  one  place  as  another.  It  is  only  when 
we  come  to  know  what  it  is  to  be  regardless  of  time,  re¬ 
gardless  of  place  —  to  feel  that  one  point  is  as  sacred  and 
near  to  God  as  another  —  that  we  can  realize  the  truth. 

No  one  will  be  one  step  nearer  Heaven  by  going  to 
Egypt  and  meditating,  as  he  walks  down  the  “Avenue 
of  Sphynxes,”  than  by  remaining  at  home  and  realizing 
that  Heaven  is  in  the  very  locality  where  his  present 
action  lies. 


ALTERNATIVE. 

It  is  only  through  the  discovery  of  Universal  Law 
that  we  can  know  how  to  fulfil  our  desires. 

When  we  are  in  universals,  we  are  one  with  God ; 
when  we  are  in  personals,  we  are  not  in  harmony  with 
God. 

When  we  come  into  right  relations  with  the  interior 
state,  we  shall  always  desire  what  is  best  for  us. 

We  find  ourselves,  continually,  in  positions  where  we 
are  obliged  to  choose  between  two  things ;  we  can  have 
one  or  the  other,  but  we  cannot  have  both.  This  goes 
on  through  life  —  this  or  that,  but  not  this  and  that. 
There  will  often  come  an  opportunity  for  the  culture  of 
the  spiritual,  or  the  material.  If  we  put  the  spiritual 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


49 


list  we  shall  never  secure  any  spiritual  development 
tliat  is  worthy  of  the  name.  But  if  we  say,  “  I  will  have 
the  highest  I  ”  then  we  may  draw  from  the  fountain  of 
Spiritual  Truth.  The  reason  why  we  cannot  draw  more 
from  the  spiritual  world  is  because  we  live  so  much  in 
the  external. 

To  bring  children  up  not  to  depend  on  externals  is  to 
bring  tliem  up  to  realize  themselves  as  magnets  for 
spiritual  realities. 

Those  who  desire  it  earnestly,  become  possessed  of 
the  deepest  secrets  of  Nature.  Tliis  knowledge  comes 
to  us  when  w^e  give  up  the  love  of  externals.  W e  be¬ 
come  qualified  for  just  what  we  set  our  thoughts  upon. 
If  we  regard  externals  as  the  chief  good,  they  will  be 
the  only  things  we  can  associate  with ;  we  can  keep  our 
places  just  where  we  elect  to  put  ourselves. 

Man’s  spiritual  power  is  universal.  Without  this 
spiritual  power  we  should  not  be  men  and  women. 
Whatever  a  seer  or  prophet  has  done,  some  one  else  can 
do.  Tliere  is  always  possibility  for  further  development 
alonof  the  same  lines. 

We  shall  be  able,  when  spiritually  developed,  to  regu¬ 
late  ourselves  through  the  law  of  natural  selection.  All 
normal,  liealthy  human  beings  will,  tlirough  this  law, 
select  the  very  things  that  are  best  for  them. 

You  are  spiritually  well  and  strong;  Avhatever  is  best 
for  you  to  have,  that  you  will  crave. 

Wlierever  there  is  a  great  feeling  of  need  there  you 
can  always  develop  power ;  it  is  not  easy  to  develop 
p(jwer  where  there  is  no  feeling  of  necessity. 


50 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


The  reason  why  so  many  people  never  receive  any¬ 
thing  on  the  psychic  plane  is  because  they  pay  too  much 
attention  to  externals. 

We  can  all  have  whatever  we  want  in  this  universe. 
Just  as  we  vibrate,  we  can  put  ourselves  into  relation- 
chip  with  whatever  we  wish.  We  can  vibrate  with  it. 
Everything  says,  “  If  you  seek  me  with  your  whole 
heart,  you  will  surely  find  me” — everything  in  the  uni' 
verse !  If  you  seek  the  higher  spiritual  development 
you  can  rise  entirely  above  your  present  limitations. 
Things  cannot  move  you  when  you  have  attained  the 
jiower  to  move  them.  You  must  either  be  the  operator, 
or  you  will  be  the  subject  —  in  the  affairs  of  your  daily 
life.  If  you  say,  “  My  circumstances  shall  obey  me  !  ” 
you  will  control  them.  I  never  propose  to  get  under 
any  circumstance.  Whenever  a  circumstance  comes  up 
we  must  realize  that  we  can  govern  it. 

Whenever  you  approach  a  summit,  you  are  vibrating 
on  a  plane  much  above  the  ordinary.  You  have  to  sur¬ 
render  on  one  plane  to  operate  on  another.  It  is  a  ques¬ 
tion  of  choice  or  alternative.  If  the  internal  is  culti¬ 
vated,  the  external  is  sacrificed.  Whenever  we  under¬ 
take  to  give  to  the  higher  and  take  from  the  lower,  it  is 
a  question  of  exchange.  And  this  is  our  idea  of  the 
true  meaning  of  the  word  “sacrifice.”  In  living  a  con¬ 
secrated  life  the  higher  nature  always  makes  demands 
upon  the  lower ;  it  is  consecration,  not  destruction.  You 
do  not  destroy  the  body,  but  let  the  spirit  use  the  body 
as  it  will. 

You  will  liave  a  good  physical  body  as  long  as  you 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


51 


need  one ;  then,  there  will  be  no  unwelcome  death  —  no 
disease.  Yonr  transition  will  only  be  to  you  a  state  of 
passage  from  one  plane  to  another.  Yon  overcome  the 
fear  of  death.  There  will  then  he  no  undesired  death,  no 
sickness.  You  are  at  once  perfectly  at  home  in  tlie 
spiritual  world  —  no  sense  of  bereavement  is  possible  to 
those  who  live  now  and  always  in  the  realization  of 
omnipresent  life  in  spirit. 

GOLDEN  MOTTOES. 

Things  cannot  move  you  when  you  have  attained  the 
power  to  move  them. 

Man  is  the  arbiter  of  his  own  fate. 

The  idea  is  a  true  and  important  one,  that  man  makes 
his  own  paradise,  or  his  own  sheol^  here  and  hereafter. 

We  do  not  have  to  be  unsuccessful.  We  get  what  we 
invite,  and  nothing  else. 

Human  will  ought  not  to  be  considered  as  something 
to  be  contested ;  the  essential  will  is  all  right,  always. 


CHASTENING. 

The  word  “  chasten  ”  means  to  cleanse.  The  world 
is  undergoing  house-cleaning.  We  can  well  imagine 
angels  going  about  on  earth  with  scrubbing-brushes  and 
pails  and  soapsuds,  —  and  even  raising  clouds  of  dust 
while  sweeping. 

If  Adam  and  Eve  did  fall,  it  was  not  our  fault :  wliy 
should  we  l)e  made  to  suffer?  There  is  no  divinity 


52 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


where  there  is  no  equity.  Punishment  is  an  arbitrary 
word  that  should  fall  into  disuse.  Chastisement  means 
purification ;  correction  means  setting  straight  that  wliich 
is  crooked.  The  reformation  of  the  fallen,  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  society  —  of  all  human  interests  —  that  is  always 
humane  and  wise.  The  improvement  of  society  —  the 
betterment  of  human  conditions,  through  correction  of 
the  offender  —  this  is  exceedingly  salutary;  all  may 
unite  upon  this  reasonable  basis. 

In  the  fifty-first  Psalm,  original  sin  is  recognized. 
This  Psalm,  whether  written  by  King  David,  or  some 
one  else,  was  written  by  one  who  was  conscious  of  the 
results  of  wrong-doing.  The  man  endeavors  to  account 
for  his  sinful  tendencies,  and  also  tries  to  ease  his  con¬ 
science —  smarting  under  a  consciousness  of  wrong. 
This  is  not  at  all  unnatural,  and  not  altogether  unjusti¬ 
fiable  —  the  desire  to  get  rid  of  a  little  of  the  responsi¬ 
bility  of  the  wrong-doing,  seeking  to  excuse  one’s  self. 
Th  is  Psalm  shows  the  inevitable  results  of  the  doino-  of 

O 

a  wrong ;  it  is  more  explanatory  than  profoundly 
philosophical.  It  is  to  be  regarded  as  something  of  a 
mirror,  in  which  one  can  see  one’s  self.  People  can  look 
at  themselves,  in  the  light  of  literature,  and  see  the  re¬ 
lation  between  cause  and  effect  in  human  experience ; 
if  they  will  only  reflect  how  people  feel  in  certain  posi¬ 
tions,  they  may  avoid  similar  evils. 

In  Isaiah  Ave  are  told,  that  “  The  son  shall  bear  the 
iniquities  of  the  father”;  and,  again,  that  he  shall 
not.  ‘‘  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  ]ie  also 
reap.”  And  yet,  we  are  told  that  one  person  bears  the 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


53 


burden  of  another’s  sufferings.  When  we  find  state¬ 
ments  apparently  so  conflicting,  are  we  not  wisest  if  we 
try  to  find  the  points  of  reconciliation  in  such  seemingly 
contradictory  statements  ? 

When  we  live  on  the  spiritual  plane,  there  are  no 
disasters  for  ns  ;  on  the  higher  plane,  so-called  disasters 
are  but  stepping-stones  to  further  development.  We 
only  require  certain  discipline  until  we  have  outgrown 
it.  Just  as  long  as  any  good  may  be  obtained  from 
dealing  with  what  may  be  called  the  cross,  the  cross 
looms  up ;  but  when  the  time  comes  that  the  cross  has 
fulfilled  its  mission,  that  cross  becomes  a  crown. 

The  “  world  ”  which  passes  away,  is  not  the  planet, 
but  a  state  of  society,  etc.  In  a  figurative  sense,  the 
“sun  shall  be  darkened  and  the  moon  turned  to  blood,” 
is  fulfilled  in  the  spirit;  it  means  a  new  order  of  society. 
There  is  much  misinterpretation  of  the  inspired  meta¬ 
phor  of  the  Scriptures.  The  “  earth  ”  means  the  objective. 
“In  the  beginning,  God  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth.”  Earth  refers  to  visible  things  ;  it  is  the  natural 
showing  forth  the  spiritual.  The  expression,  “  the 
world  is  passing  away,”  is  always  used  to  signify  an  ex¬ 
isting  state  of  society  in  its  decline. 

We  would  certainly  say  if  any  one  is  given  to  any  of 
the  foolish  interpretations  formerly  held,  he  had  better 
give  them  up.  There  will  not  be  an  external  fulfilment 
of  the  prophecies,  but  a  spiritual  verification.  We  are 
now  on  the  verge  of  a  new  era. 


54 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


MEDITATION. 

The  cross  is  transmuted  into  the  crown.  The  trans¬ 
formation  of  the  cross  into  the  crown  is  like  the  baser 
metals  being  placed  in  the  crucible ;  the  dross  is  con¬ 
sumed  and  the  pure  gold  remains,  purified  by  fire. 

GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

We  cannot  wipe  out  anything  with  tears.  There  is 
but  one  at-one-ment  —  go  and  sin  no  more. 


PERSISTENCE. 

A  dormant  faculty  remains  dormant  until  something 
comes  to  call  it  forth.  Those  who  are  contended  against, 
become  strong. 

The  very  best  thing  that  can  liappen  to  people  is 
when  they  are  subjected  to  severe  privations.  Our 
great  minds,  as  a  rule,  come  out  of  strong  effort,  and 
out  of  much  contention  with  what  the  Avorld  calls  mis¬ 
fortune. 

It  is  looking  back  and  turning  back,  getting  discour¬ 
aged  and  disappointed,  that  hinders  success ;  going  on 
and  on,  persistently,  is  what  makes  for  success  —  dogged 
persistency.  One  may  have  much  to  battle  with ;  but 
by  going  on,  steadfastly,  we  all  shall  succeed.  Do  not 
stop  to  fight  the  enemy.  Go  to  sleep  whenever  you 
wish  to.  But  when  you  steadily  hold  before  you  that 
one  persistent  consciousness  that  you  are  a  magnet  to 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


55 


draw  toward  you  whatever  you  will,  you  will  bring  it 
to  you. 

Man’s  desire  is  an  expression  of  man’s  potency ; 
every  one  can  do  what  he  desires  to  do.  But  the  voli¬ 
tion  is  fulfilled  gradually,  in  a  process  from  within  out¬ 
ward. 

(3ur  desires  must  be  fulfilled  through  steady,  constant 
expectation.  The  desire  must  be  firmly  and  consis¬ 
tently  held.  It  fulfils  the  law,  “  Every  one  that  seeketh, 
findeth.”  It  is  to  ask  for  one  thing  definitely,  and  then 
do  everything  with  that  one  object  and  expectation. 
Never  permit  anything  to  come  between  you  and  the 
fulfilment  of  your  desire. 

A  teacher  cannot  give  us  ability,  but  can  help  us  to 
unfold  our  ahility.  Our  desire  is  an  evidence  that  we 
have  some  talent  for  the  thing  desired.  Never  allow 
yourself  to  become  discouraged  because  your  progress 
seems  slow ;  you  must  never  take  any  notice  of  seeming 
failure  or  defeat.  Note  only  your  successes.  And  use 
ever  to  yourself,  correct  versus  incorrect  language.  It 
is  exactly  the  same  in  regard  to  any  progress ;  do  not 
say,  “  I  do  not  seem  to  make  much  progress,”  but,  “  I 
am  sure  I  do  this  a  little  better  than  I  did.” 

Obstacles  come  to  us  to  be  conquered — to  be  overcome ; 
but  any  one  who  will  stand  aloof  will  gain  nothing. 

Let  the  will  remain  where  it  is ;  the  will  is  good 
enough,  but  the  intellect  is  often  all  wrong.  The  will 
that  says  “  I  wish  it  ”  is  to  be  left  where  it  is  ;  but  tlie 
intellect  must  be  brought  to  realize  that  “  I  will  do  it, 
and  I  ca7i  do  it.”  The  very  moment  that  you  bring  tlie 


56 


GLINTS  ON  WISDOM. 


“  can  ”  instead  of  the  “  cannot  ”  into  relation  with  the 
will,  you  have  overcome  the  difficulty. 

The  word  “trust”  is  used  constantly,  in  connection 
with  the  word  “  faith.”  Before  we  can  trust,  we  must 
acknowledge  the  trustworthiness  of  the  thing  in  which 
we  trust. 

We  must  use  the  word  “can”  potentially  before  we 
use  it  actually. 

MEDITATION. 

Work  is  something  that  we  love  to  do  ;  labor  is  soine- 
thiug  we  have  to  do.  Work  is  a  blessing,  but  labor  is 
a  curse. 

Always  maintain  that  you  will  have  the  strength  for 
whatever  necessity  may  arise. 

All  })rogress  is  by  means  of  a  spiral  stairway ;  we  do 
not  go  forward  in  a  straight  line,  but  by  a  spiral  path¬ 
way,  and  this  pathway  often  appears  to  have  its  ups 
and  downs.  We  are  not  going  simply  round  and 
round,  but  truly  going  forward. 


CONCENTRATION. 

Tlie  restless  character  is  not  the  ideal  character.  In 
order  to  develop  general  power,  one  has  to  learn  to 
work  witli  one’s  mind. 

Whenever  you  are  afraid  that  you  are  going  to  lose 
something,  and  are  always  troubling  yourself  about  it, 
you  set  in  motion  a  destructive  current  of  force. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


5T 


We  can  do  as  we  choose  with  our  own  faculties.  This 
is  the  first  lesson  in  concentration.  If  you  say  you  can¬ 
not  help  it,  you  are  a  confessed  creature  of  circum¬ 
stance. 

According  to  whatever  you  expect — whetlier  you 
will  it  so,  or  whether  you  will  it  otherwise  —  shall  it  be 
unto  you. 

Like  attracts  like ;  everything  attracts  its  own  kind, 
throughout  the  universe.  But  there  are  those  who 
desire  one  thing  and  expect  another ;  this  explains  wliy 
many  persons  remain  ill. 

You  can  have  anything  you  like  in  the  universe  — 
})rovided  you  set  about  attracting  it  in  the  right  way. 
Can  you  not  make  a  mental  picture  of  anything  you 
want  ?  The  first  question  is.  Do  you  know  what  you 
want?  If  you  do  not  know  what  you  want,  no  one  can 
help  you.  In  business,  unless  you  know  what  you 
want,  a  business  person  cannot  tell  you  how  to  get  it; 
it  is  just  the  same  on  the  psychic  plane.  Find  out  what 
you  desire  most  of  all.  Choose  out  some  place  and 
some  occupation,  and  put  yourself  iu  relation  with  it 
subjectively,  in  your  quietest  momentsi 

If  we  know  what  we  want,  we  can  relate  ourselves  to 
it.  Go  into  the  silence  and  find  out  what  you  want. 
Do  not  rise  from  your  chair  or  place  of  retirement  until 
you  know  what  you  want. 

Every  individual  is  a  magnet  to  draw  to  liimself 
wliatever  he  needs  to  draw  —  whatsoever  is  steadily  de¬ 
termined  upon.  The  result  is  attained  by  living  con¬ 
tinually  with  one  object  and  one  determination.  When 


58 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


people  will  to  succeed,  that  is  one-half ;  when  they  ex¬ 
pect  to  succeed,  that  is  the  other  half.  This  is  to  govern 
fate,  instead  of  being  governed  by  it. 

We  put  all  speculative  topics  aside;  we  will  not  dog¬ 
matize  upon  them  at  all.  The  question  is  not  whether 
our  desires  are  the  result  of  reincarnation  or  the  result 
of  heredity.  But,  your  desire  being  what  it  is  —  your 
desire  being  yours  —  you  can  gratify  the  desire.  We 
cannot  change  our  past  incarnations.  What  we  main¬ 
tain  is,  whatever  your  desire  is  now  —  let  it  result 
from  whatever  it  may  —  you  can  fulfil  your  desire 
through  the  law  of  attraction.  If  you  do  not  care  about 
a  thing,  you  do  not  want  to  get  it.  There  is  not  a  per¬ 
son  on  this  earth  who  really  wants  a  thing  and  cannot 
ofet  it.  The  desire  is  that  which  attracts. 

Make  conditions  for  success  by  calling  out  mentally 
whatever  you  wish  to  attract.  You  are  a  magnet  to  at¬ 
tract  it ;  it  is  entirely  through  the  law  of  attraction. 

Wherever  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my 
name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them.”  Wherever 
two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  any  mental  condi¬ 
tion,  if  joyful,  they  are  a  magnet  to  attract  joy ;  they 
attract  whatever  they  concentrate  upon. 

Not  in  use,  but  in  abuse,  lies  the  injury  of  any  fac¬ 
ulty.  Never  make  an  unpleasant  effort  to  produce  any 
effect.  Doubt  and  fear  —  and  strainful  effort  produce 
injurious  effects.  When  people  try  to  do  anything, 
they  almost  invariably  fail  to  do  it.  Never  say  “  I’ll 
try,  ’  but  say  “  I’ll  do  it.”  “  I’ll  do  it !  ”  is  what  con¬ 
quers  obstacles. 


GLIi^TS  OF  WISDOM. 


59 


If  a  person  wants  anytliing,  let  liiin  know  that  he 
wants  it  and  open  himself  to  it.  “  I  'will  have  what  I 
want,  because  I  want  it,”  is  the  attitude  to  take  for  the 
accomplishment  of  anything.  • 

When  jmn  wish  a  prophecy  for  your  own  life,  go  into 
the  sacred  silence ;  don’t  ask  anybody  else,  but  go  into 
the  deptlis  of  your  own  consciousness.  When  you  can 
go  into  the  holy  silence  at  will,  then  yon  will  soon  be¬ 
come  a  genuine  theosophist. 

The  way  in  which  the  highest  knowledge  comes  to 
ns  is  the  way  it  came  to  the  early  prophets ;  they  went 
away  by  themselves  —  they  went  into  the  wilderness. 

If  we  liave  pure  eyes  and  loving  liearts,  we  can  read 
the  book  of  Nature.  There  is  meaning  to  every  voice, 
and  a  significance  to  every  form. 

The  true  condition  is  perfect  rest,  but  continual 
activity. 

It  is  not  the  length  of  time  we  consume  in  doing  -any 
woik,  but  the  amount  of  energy  we  throw  into  our  work 
that  truly  tells. 

People  who  are  always  running  about  and  trying  to 
accomplish  a  great  deal,  often  accomplish  very  little. 
Quiet  industry  is  most  effective. 

GOLDEN  IMOTTO. 

The  greatest  and  the  nol)lest  things  often  take  the 
longest  in  coming  to  maturity. 


60 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


DESTINY. 

While  only  what  is  involved  can  he  evolved^  we  know 
that  irrigation  is  necessary  for  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 
A  fertile  soil  is  necessary  for  perfect  expansion  of  the 
buried  seed. 

If  we  have  different  works  to  do,  this  necessitates 
varying  endowments.  One  star  differs  from  another 
star  in  glory  —  not,  necessarily,  in  the  greater  glory  of 
one  than  another. 

We  must  regard  humanity  as  the  Grand  Man.  The 
Grand  Man  has  all  the  members  and  all  the  parts 
which  the  human  body  has ;  and  one  member  cannot  do 
the  work  that  another  should.  We  must  admit  that 
there  are  people  born  into  the  world  who  cannot  do  the 
work  their  brothers  or  sisters  can.  The  same  talent  is 
not  demanded  in  all.  There  are  always  some  people 
who  not  only  see  ahead,  but  work  ahead.  There  are  some 
who  are  in  the  brains  of  the  Grand  Man ;  these  have  to 
Avork  in  their  studios,  preparing  great  things  for  the 
Avorld.  There  are  societies  of  angels  who  perform  the 
functions  of  the  mouth ;  others  who  are  in  the  province 
of  the  hands.  Those  who  are  called  upon  to  run  on 
swift  errands  are  in  the  feet  of  the  Grand  Man. 

There  are  those  who  are  especially  qualified  for  out- 
Avard  kinds  of  Avork ;  there  are  those  who  are  qualified 
for  esoteric  action  only. 

We  may  find  our  places  in  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiac. 

Not  every  one  is  qualified  to  be  in  the  brain,  or  in 
the  eye,  or  in  the  tongue  of  the  Grand  Man.  Some 


GLINTS  OP  WISDOM, 


61 


must  be  in  the  hands,  others  in  the  feet.  We  are  to 
aim  after  organic  harmony  —  a  perfect  organism. 

We  are  perfectly  in  harmony  with  Nature  when  we 
claim  that  there  may  be  twelve  manners  of  people  — as 
represented  by  the  Twelve  Signs  of  the  Zodiac  —  all 
correspondences  to  tlie  different  parts  of  the  body. 

We  may  also  note  fancied  resemblances  in  people  to 
the  different  animals ;  thus,  some  people  exhibit  the 
characteristics  of  tlie  wolf;  others  show  the  traits  of 
the  dog  or  the  cat.  (All  this  may  tend  to  support  the 
theory  that  our  lower  selves  have  evolved  througli  the 
various  stages  of  the  animal  kingdom.) 

Desire  to  fulfil  your  own  mission  in  life,  whatever  it 
may  be  ;  then,  when  you  take  this  ground,  that  you  will 
work  for  the  good  of  humanity,  you  will  find  that  in 
these  days,  as  in  days  of  old,  there  is  a  Sinai.  You 
will  find  yourself  on  the  hill,  conversing  with  the 
Higliest. 

Learn  to  appreciate  every  one’s  gift,  your  own  in¬ 
cluded.  And  then,  do  not  care  what  particular  tiling 
you  are  called  upon  to  do,  what  situation  you  are  called 
upon  to  fill,  but  seek  to  attain  the  liighest  state  in  any. 
Alany  will  say  they  cannot  do  the  things  they  are  called 
upon  to  do.  If  any  one  feels  in  that  way,  he  should 
compel  himself  to  do  the  thing  over  and  over,  until  he 
feels  no  aversion  to  it,  and  can  do  it  well. 

The  words  “  gift  ”  and  “  mission  ”  have  a  universal 
signification. 

Every  human  being  has  a  mission,  a  distinct  destiny. 
Some  have  missions  which  seem  to  elevate  them,  in  a 


62 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


certain  sense,  above  others.  There  are  those  who  may 
be  regarded  in  a  special  way  as  lights  of  the  world. 

No  one’s  work  comes  to  an  end  because  it  has  been  a 
failure,  but  because  it  has  been  a  success. 

The  law  is  that  all  affairs  and  events  of  human  life 
remain  until  their  successors  are  ready  to  appear. 

Always  feel  that  if  one  thing  goes  away,  you  are 
ready  for  something  higher.  Never  say,  “I  have  lost 
something,”  but,  “  I  have  come  to  the  end  of  a  certain 
period  in  my  journey,  what  is  the  next  thing  for  me  to 
do  ?  What  is  the  next  good  that  is  coming  to  me  ?  ” 

What  has  a  beginning  must  have  an  end ;  what  has 
no  beginning  can  have  no  end. 

At  this  particular  time,  we  are  at  the  end  of  a  cycle  — 
at  the  close  of  an  age.  It  seems  as  though  this  concep¬ 
tion  were  in  the  air ;  every  one  seems  to  feel  it.  But 
the  majority  of  people  fail  to  interpret  the  signs.  We 
are  not  yet  in  the  new  dispensation,  but  we  are  in  a 
period  of  what  might  be  called  interregnum.  The 
world  is  now  passing  through  a  narrow  passage-way, 
like  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  a  river.  The  generally  in¬ 
stilled  feeling  everywhere  says  we  are  in  a  transitional 
epoch.  It  is  as  people  usually  feel  at  a  period  of 
liouse-moving  —  a  great  deal  more  than  a  simple  change, 
like  going  into  some  place  or  condition  with  which  we 
are  not  familiar  ;  there  is  an  element  of  mystery.  The 
unknown,  even  if  it  may  be  an  unknown  blessing,  is 
still  dreaded ;  that  is  why  there  are  so  many  restless 
hearts  and  minds  at  present. 

We  hear  it  truly  said,  “There  is  a  good  time  com- 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


G3 


ingl”  We  are  in  the  dawn  of  the  “Golden  Age.” 
We  cannot  tell  how  long  it  will  last;  a  “thousand” 
signifies  a  great  number. 

As  all  the  baser  metals  are  transmutable  into  gold, 
so  every  cross  that  the  world  has  borne  is  to  be  melted 
into  a  crown.  The  cross  becomes  a  crown  through 
transformation  of  energy. 

It  is  the  destiny  of  Columbia  to  lead  the  nations. 
Every  land  is  to  become  a  Palestine.  Think  of  the 
territorial  area  of  the  United  States !  This  is  to  be  the 
new  nation  !  A  new  nation  is  being  “  born  in  a  day  ”  — 
in  the  day  when  people  can  see  the  light,  in  a  period  of 
light  and  universal  illumination. 

The  Orient  and  the  Occident  shall  join  hands. 

We  believe  there  will  spring  up  here  (America  will 
take  the  initiative)  a  new  dispensation  of  Light  and 
Truth  to  dawn  upon  the  whole  world. 

The  new  order  of  things  will  not  be  born  all  at  once  ; 
it  will  come  as  a  little  child,  but  it  will  grow,  continu¬ 
ally  increasing  in  wisdom  and  stature. 

MEDITATION. 

Every  man  is  the  arbiter  of  his  own  fate  and  the 
shaper  of  his  own  destiny.  There  is  a  destiny  in  the 
sense  that  there  is  a  destination.  The  destiny  of  man 
is  involved  in  his  nature. 

We  must  not  believe  in  physical  power  as  we  do  in 
intellectual  and  moral  power.  Spirituality  alone  justi¬ 
fies  optimism,  finite  step  is  a  final  step. 

We  should  look  upon  our  past  lives  as  stepping-stones 


64 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


to  the  higher  lives  we  are  to  live.  We  rise  from  the 
(lead;  not  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  bnt  from  the 
dead  is  our  blissful  heritaofe. 

Nothing  can  go  until  the  time  has  come  for  its  de¬ 
parture,  You  cannot  destroy  what  has  a  message  yet 
to  deliver  and  a  mission  yet  unfulfilled. 

The  reason  why  some  structures  and  some  books  re¬ 
main,  while  others  are  lost  or  destroyed,  is  because  they 
have  something  yet  to  teach.  Nothing  is  destroyed  or 
lost  until  it  has  fulfilled  its  mission. 

GOLDEN  MOTTO'. 

Let  us  ever  realize  a  Trinity  of  Love,  Wisdom,  and 
Use. 


HEREDITY. 

The  doctrine  of  heredity  is  the  old  doctrine  of  original 
sin  in  a  somewhat  new  and  professedly  scientific  guise. 

We  are  told  that  in  consequence  of  the  transgression 
of  the  first  parents  of  the  human  race,  sin  came  into  the 
world.  There  are  two  theories  with  regard  to  original 
sin :  one,  that  man  inherits  sin  from  his  forefathers  ; 
tlie  other,  that  of  imputed  sin. 

If  people  believe  simply  in  heredity,  they  make  them¬ 
selves  irresponsible  creatures.  This  is  hopeless  pessi¬ 
mism  for  a  great  many  people  ;  it  is  only  the  old  Calvin- 
istic  doctrine  of  original  sin  dressed  in  a  new  garb.  If 
tliis  were  true,  the  race  would  tend  to  final  corruption. 
‘‘  He  that  overcometh  shall  inherit  all  things.” 


GLINTS  OF  AYISDOM. 


(35 

There  are  no  invincible  tendencies.  You  can  over¬ 
come  the  tendency  to  consumption  just  as  reasonably  as 
you  can  overcome  the  tendency  to  drink  or  any  other 
immorality. 

Persons  may  become  intoxicated,  and  suffer  from 
delirium  tremens ;  that  is  the  penalty.  You  can  dis¬ 
cover  the  law  of  cause  and  effect  so  as  to  work  with  it. 
Most  people  think  it  very  wrong  to  tell  a  falsehood ;  it 
is  wrong,  beyond  a  doubt,  but  a  person  may  have  just 
as  much  a  tendency  to  lying  as  to  consumption  or 
cancer.  If  a  person  has  a  tendency  to  tell  lies,  he  ought 
to  overcome  it ;  then  he  must  have  the  power  to  over¬ 
come  it.  One  cannot  do  what  one  is  constitutionally 
unable  to  do.  We  must  teach  ability,  or  our  moral 
counsels,  even  the  highest  of  them,  are  idle,  impracti¬ 
cable  vaporings. 

GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

We  are  not  bound  by  the  law  of  heredity.  All 
tendencies  can  be  encouraged  and  developed,  or  they 
can  be  suppressed  and  overcome. 


SPECIALTY. 

Great  specialists  are  not  apt  to  be  interesting  to 
people  in  general. 

Information  should  be  obtained  upon  all  points,  but 
we  have  plenty  of  room  for  specialists.  There  are  cer¬ 
tain  (pialihcations,  however,  Avliich  are  as  necessary  for 
one  as  for  anotlier. 


66 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


There  never  will  be  a  successful  worker  in  any  field 
wiio  has  not  qualified  himself  for  that  special  field.  We 
must  understand  our  business.  Whatever  may  he  the 
particular  qualification  one  desires,  one  must  live  for 
that  work  in  particular. 

To  be  specialists  in  any  great  line,  we  must  con¬ 
centrate  our  forces  on  that  special  line.  If  you  want  to 
succeed  in  anything,  you  can  become  great  wherever 
you  really  desire  to  be  great. 

It  is  asked,  “  Is  it  not  true  that  any  scientific  demon¬ 
stration  demands  that  one’s  life  should  be  given  up  to 
it  ?  ”  If  we  desire  to  be  eminent  scientists  in  any  line, 
we  must  give  ourselves  entirely  to  our  work.  We  must 
be  people  of  “  one  idea  ”  ;  we  must  have  one  central  ob¬ 
ject.  We  may  read  all  literature,  and  interest  our¬ 
selves  in  all  arts  and  amusements,  but  we  must  make 
everything  subsidiary  to  the  chosen  end.  Make  every¬ 
thing  you  hear  —  everytliing  you  do  —  tend  in  one 
direction.  Be  able  to  illustrate  your  subject  in  mani¬ 
fold  ways.  People  may  carry  the  thought  of  psychic 
development  with  them  wherever  they  go,  into  every¬ 
thing  they  do ;  never  allowing  anything  to  be  a  hin¬ 
drance  ;  keeping  the  desire  always  fixed  upon  the  un¬ 
folding  of  the  interior. 

If  one  is  to  use  his  eyes,  he  must  have  an  occupation 
which  calls  the  eyes  into  use. 

Give  out  your  best  and  highest,  in  every  way;  in  the 
newspaper  article,  in  your  novels,  in  your  conversation, 
in  your  silent  thought. 

The  majority  of  people,  who  write  hysterically  on 


GLIKTS  OF  WISDOM. 


67 


various  subjects,  start  on  their  subjects  from  nowhere, 
and,  therefore,  cannot  possibly  reach  a  satisfactory  con¬ 
clusion. 

In  going  into  the  practice  of  healing,  do  not  give  up 
your  special  talent,  but  through  the  exercise  of  your 
gift  do  your  work.  The  daily  newspaper,  the  theatre, 
the  novel,  all  are  to  be  used  as  channels  to  carry  the 
higher  truths  to  the  people.  Every  one  is  to  use  his 
own  special  talent,  and  give  to  the  world  what  he  has 
to  give,  through  that  special  channel.  Some  people 
have,  undoubtedly,  greater  capacity  than  others,  but  no 
one  should  lay  aside  his  special  vocation. 

MEDITATION. 

We  rest  by  changing  our  occupation.  But  let  people 
go  to  doing  nothing,  and  think  that  idleness  will  pro¬ 
duce  a  cure,  they  will  not  find  what  they  expect  but  ex¬ 
actly  the  reverse  of  it. 

When  people  talk  about  attracting  whatever  they 
want,  it  is  perfectly  true ;  but  they  cannot  want  what 
they  have  not  potentially  the  means  of  procuring. 

GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

Whatever  is  involved  in  any  soul  can  be  evolved 
tlierefrom. 


THE  LAW  OF  ATTRACTION. 

There  is  a  Law  of  AttractioJi,  which  is  absolutely 
nniversal.  Everything  is  a  link  to  attract  that  which  is 
like  itself.  Thus  one  may  be  brought  into  relation  with 


68 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


all  ill  Nature  that  is  like  unto  the  object  upon  Avhich 
one  elects  to  concentrate. 

Every  individual  is  by  nature  a  magnet  to  draw  from 
the  universe  what  is  needed  to  build  up  his  own  organ¬ 
ization.  It  is  not  for  one  to  give  up  to  another,  nor 
to  ask  others  to  give  up  to  us. 

Whatever  comes  into  any  building,  or  into  any  per¬ 
son’s  individual  sphere,  comes  because  it  is  attracted 
thereto  through  the  LaAV  of  Attraction. 

We  hear  of  attraction  and  repulsion:  the  Law  of  At¬ 
traction  is  the  only  law  we  recognize.  There  is  in 
reality  no  law  of  repulsion,  though  there  appears  to  be 
such  a  law.  Everytiiing  follows  the  line  of  greatest  at¬ 
traction,  which  is  the  line  of  least  resistance  ;  thus  it  ap¬ 
pears  to  us  that  there  is  repulsion,  while  really  there  is 
only  attraction. 

Any  limitation  that  anybody  is  groaning  under  comes 
through  the  Law  of  Attraction. 

Whether  a  person  knows  it  or  not,  he  gets  whatever 
he  is  in  a  condition  to  receive. 

Many  will  say  —  “We  came  into  the  world  with 
differing  endowments.”  That  is  not  asking  “  How 
did  we  come  to  be  what  we  are  ?  And  where 
did  we  get  our  tendencies  from  ?  ”  Granted  that  you 
have  any  desire,  you  can  fulfil  that  desire  through  the 
operation  of  the  Law  of  Attraction ;  making  yourself 
a  magnet,  you  can  draw  to  3^ourself  anything  you 
want. 

Tlie  action  of  this  Law  of  Attraction  is,  that  wliat- 
ever  we  seek,  we  find.  And,  if  two  persons  can  be 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


69 


found  attracting  the  same  conditions,  they  will  have 
precisely  the  same  experiences  —  provided  they  are  in 
the  same  mental  conditions. 

We  shall  eventually  know  how  to  produce  anything 
in  this  world  that  we  wish  to  produce. 

Let  people  assert  something,  instead  of  attempting  to 
deny  something ;  trust  in  the  Law  of  Attraction,  not  in 
the  Law  of  Repulsion,  conquers.  No  one  need  suffer 
from  a  sense  of  neglect,  nor  through  hyper-sensitiveness 
from  disappointment  and  heartache ;  there  is  a  cure  for 
all  this.  When  feeling  sorrowful,  pronounce  the  words 
“Joy,  joy!”  Try  this,  it  will  he  found  successful. 
Everything  answers  to  its  own  name.  Everything  re¬ 
sponds  to  the  name  by  which  it  is  known ! 

It  is  the  Universal  Law :  “  Call  upon  me  and  I  will 
answer !  ”  This  is  universally  true ;  it  refers  to  the 
higliest,  and  the  lowest,  and  to  all  that  is  intermediary. 
Whatever  you  call  will  ahvays  respond. 

When  we  pronounce  certain  words  mentally,  making 
positive  assertions,  our  words  return  to  us ;  and  they 
do  not  return  to  us  void. 

It  is  entirely  the  condition  of  the  person  himself 
wliich  causes  the  treatment  he  receives.  Those  who 
get  the  worst  treatment  bring  it  upon  themselves. 

If  you  have  bad  dreams  —  if  you  have  niglitmares 
if  you  wake  in  tlie  morning  feeling  badly  —  it  is  en¬ 
tirely  yonr  OAvn  fault ;  not  necessarily  your  sin,  l)ut 
your  blunder. 

dJie  Law  of  Attraction  needs  to  be  understood.  If 
you  are  in  a  condition  to  attract  children,  and  do  not 


70 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


know  that  there  are  any  children  in  the  neighborhood, 
they  will  be  attracted  by  you  and  will  come  to  you,  be¬ 
cause  of  that  attraction.  It  is  not  only  so  with  chil¬ 
dren,  but  also  with  animals  —  with  dogs  and  with  birds. 
It  is  not  probable  that  they  understand  this,  but  they 
surely  feel  drawn  toward  you  because  of  the  sympa¬ 
thetic  vibration  between  you  and  them.  This  is  the 
Law  of  Sympathetic  Vibration. 

If  there  is  such  a  law  as  that  of  repulsion,  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  People  do  not  know  what  the 
action  of  their  vibrations  is  upon  things  around  them, 
many  times,  and  thus  attract  things  they  greatly 
dislike. 

Let  ns  be  thankful  for  everything  that  comes  to  us  ; 
if  it  ought  not  to  come,  it  would  not  come.  It  is  the 
effect  of  a  cause.  If  we  did  not  attract  it,  we  should 
not  have  it. 

In  the  same  way  that  the  physician  draws  towards 
liim  the  sick,  will  the  wise  person  draw  toward  himself 
the  foolish ;  the  moral  will  draw  the  immoral,  aaid  so 
on;  because  we  can  help  others  thus. 

Only  the  outward  form  of  a  work  can  be  regulated 
])y  wliat  we  call  circumstances. 

Why  do  the  ignorant  go  to  teachers?  For  the  en¬ 
lightenment  of  their  understanding. 

We  should  feel  that  Almighty  God  is  paying  us  a 
compliment  when  he  sends  to  us  people  with  down- 
Avard  tendencies.  What  does  the  Law  of  Attraction 
find  to  work  upon  in  such  cases  ?  It  Avorks  upon  the 
germ  of  lionor,  Avhich  is  like  a  diamond  set  in  mud. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


71 


Those  who  come  into  the  sphere  of  pure  influence 
can  be  affected  for  good  by  unconscious  influence. 

MEDITATION. 

We  can  become  related  to  all  that  is  beautiful  in  the 
world,  through  the  Law  of  Attraction,  tlirough  a  mental 
process,  regardless  of  what  our  exterior  surroundings 
may  be. 

The  Law  of  Attraction  explains  entirely  the  wisdom 
of  prayer  on  a  scientific  basis. 

When  you  follow  the  Law  of  Attraction,  you  are 
drawn  in  a  superior  degree  to  a  certain  place ;  and  if 
you  are  at  all  versatile,  3^011  will  be  sometimes  drawn  to 
one  place,  sometimes  to  another,  but  always  to  the  right 
place  at  the  right  time  and  in  the  right  way. 

You  say  a  certain  thought  strikes  you.  Why?  Be¬ 
cause  you  were  in  a  condition  to  be  struck.  Unless 
you  were  in  a  condition  to  be  struck,  it  could  not  have 
struck  you. 


RECOGNITION  OF  QUALIFICATION. 

The  right  of  every  individual  is  to  do  whatever  lie  or 
she  can  do  well.  Qualification  is  the  test  of  ordina¬ 
tion.  The  qualified  healer  is  the  ordained  healer. 

It  is  recognition  of  qualification  that  we  need.  The 
very  moment  people  claim  an3dhing  as  a  right  —  the  veiy 
moment  we  get  to  that  point  —  we  are  ready  for  some¬ 
thing  ;  and  we  never  get  it  until  we  are  ready  for  it. 


Y2 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


We  do  not  always  see  liow  the  Law  of  Attraction 
honors  all  who  trust  it,  hut  that  is  only  on  account  of 
our  shortsightedness. 

Silently,  we  can  become  magnets  to  attract  every  thing 
we  desire.  But  what  is  the  genesis  of  desire  ?  There 
must  he  a  cause  for  desire.  If  we  had  no  capacity,  no 
talent,  we  would  never  have  the  desire  to  express  it. 

The  very  moment  we  can  see  a  thing,  we  are  ready 
for  it  —  else  we  could  not  see  it.  The  very  moment 
we  have  come  to  see  a  higher  state,  we  can  begin  to 
make  it  manifest. 

Only  those  Avho  have  had  a  metaphysical  education 
know  how  to  discriminate  hetAveen  the  potential  and 
the  actual ;  they  recognize  the  possibilities  Avithin  every 
one  and  distinguish  between  the  potential  and  tlie 
actual.  To  recognize  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  Avithin, 
is  to  help  that  Heaven  to  shine  forth,  to  actualize. 

If  yon  place  before  the  eyes  of  people  —  within  easy 
range  of  their  vision  —  that  Avhich  symbolizes  a  state 
Avliich  they  have  not  yet  attained,  but  which  they  can 
reacli,  yon  aid  them  in  reaching  it. 

We  must  affirm  that  a  person  has  it  Avithin  him  to 
express  Avhat  he  has  not  yet  attained,  Avhenever  Ave  are 
seeking  to  aid  him  in  any  department  of  education. 

GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

Wlierever  there  is  Qualification,  there  is  a  signet  of 
Divine  Ordination. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


73 


POLARITY. 

People  who  are  unsnccessful  are  not  rightly  polarized. 

Many  persons  are  imperfectly  married  within  them¬ 
selves  ;  they  may  be  emotional  but  not  intellectual,  or 
intellectual  and  not  emotional.  Where  intellect  and 
emotion  are  perfectly  united,  how  much  grander  and 
more  glorious  the  results  I  When  the  two  blend  in  us, 
then  our  spiritual  gifts  unfold ;  we  attain  the  highest 
psychical  state.  What  is  brought  forth  in  us  as 
spiritual  jiower  is  through  the  blending  of  these  ele¬ 
ments  —  emotion  and  intellect. 

Everybody  is  susceptible  to  something  —  proof  against 
something  else. 

When  we  come  into  knowledge  of  our  inner  selves, 
we  shall  be  conscious  of  being  susceptible  to  everything 
we  wish  to  be  susceptible  to,  and  proof  against  every- 
tliing  we  wish  to  be  proof  against. 

One’s  sensitiveness  can  be  brought  so  entirely  under 
Ids  own  control  that  he  can  be  open  to  any  influx,  and 
close  himself  aofainst  an  influx  lie  wishes  to  avoid.  We 
are  influenced  by  the  erroneous  thoughts  of  those  around 
us,  if  we  are  in  a  negative  condition  to  their  influence. 

Until  you  can  realize  that  you  have  tlie  magnet  witliin 
yourself  to  draw  to  you  at  any  time  that  wliicli  you 
need,  you  are  in  a  degree  of  servitude.  Wlien  ^mu  can 
declare,  “  God  is  everywhere  !  The  Divine  Spirit  is 
within  me  —  Avithin  you  —  throughout  the  universe  I  ” 
then,  you  do  not  have  to  yield  to  anything.  No  one 
need  yield  to  circumstances. 


74 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


We  hear  much  about  electricity  and  magnetism. 
Every  thinker  to-day  is  a  believer  in  the  unity  of  force ; 
not  two  forces,  one  magnetic  and  the  other  electric,  but 
one  force  which  acts  in  both  directions,  one  law,  mani¬ 
festing  itself  in  a  variety  of  ways.  One  force,  moving 
in  a  northerly  and  southerly  direction  is  magnetism ; 
moving  easterly  and  westerly  it  is  electricity.  Force 
may  move  in  one  direction  and  be  magnetic  ;  then  in 
another,  and  be  electric. 

People  one  would  call  “  sweet,”  and  “  gentle,”  may 
be  very  easily  wounded  —  have  their  feelings  hurt ;  they 
allow  their  feelings  to  be  wounded.  They  do  not  say 
anything,  perhaps,  but  go  to  their  rooms  and  have  a 
“good  cry,”  and  often  go  to  sleep  in  that  mood.  How 
can  they  expect  to  be  well !  Such  persons  are  weak,  far 
too  negative. 

There  are  two  wise  courses  of  action :  either  take  no 
notice  of  an  annoyance,  or  else  have  it  out  with  a  per¬ 
son.  Misunderstandings  and  misinterpretations  are 
wrong  on  both  sides ;  it  is  better  to  have  it  out  with  the 
one  who  has  injured  you  or  wounded  your  feelings. 

It  is  entirely  unnecessary  that  you  should  remain  ab¬ 
normally  sensitive. 

No  one  can  be  too  sensitive  to  spiritual  influx  of  a 
high  order;  but  sensitiveness  is  wrongly  interpreted. 
People  are  sensitive  on  very  different  planes. 

A  negative  state  of  disorder  expresses  itself  in  weak¬ 
ness,  debility  —  too  little  strength  ;  a  positive  state  of 
disorder,  in  positive  ailments. 

Unsatisfied  is  a  purely  negative  state.  Dissatisfied  is 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


75 


a  different  condition  altogether.  There  are  many 
people  who  are  both  —  confusion  of  condition.  When 
people  are  unsatisfied,  a  new’  hope,  a  new  desire,  a  new 
ardor  is  growing  within  them. 

Very  sensitive  people,  who  are  too  negative,  catch  dis¬ 
eases  ;  why  not  catch  something  good  ? 

Just  as  it  can  be  definitely  stated  on  the  physical 
plane,  that  certain  requirements  are  necessary,  so  on 
the  mental  plane,  one’s  condition  is  all-important. 
There  is  no  law  that  will  favor  one  more  than  it  will 
another.  If  one  takes  the  “grippe”  and  another  does 
not,  it  stands  to  reason  that  if  both  have  been  exposed 
to  the  same  atmosphere,  they  are  not  in  the  same  con¬ 
dition. 

We  are  differently  affected  by  things  because  of  the 
different  magnets  within  ourselves.  We  can  adjust 
those  magnets  so  that  we  can  go  on  attracting  just 
what  we  wish  to  attract. 

All  that  we  attract  is  in  the  atmosphere  ;  we  become 
related  with  it  through  our  thought. 

There  is  all  the  difference  in  the  world  between  read¬ 
ing  a  condition,  and  taking  on  a  condition.  Reading  a 
condition  is  all  right ;  but  taking  on  a  condition  is  very 
wrong.  Many  people,  when  they  go  anywhere,  take  on 
conditions.  Now,  we  maintain  that  the  scientific  clair¬ 
voyant  or  psychometrist  will  be  able  to  see,  without 
yielding  to  conditions.  There  is  a  normal  and  ab¬ 
normal  sensitiveness.  One  may  be  able  to  give  clair¬ 
voyant  diagnosis,  but,  keeping  it  external,  may  avoid 
taking  on  the  condition.  We  may  become  sensitive  to 


76 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


information ;  but  all  the  knowledge  we  make  use  of  is 
not  to  sadden  us.  To  see  events  is  all  right ;  but  the 
abnormally  sensitive  person  would  feel  the  fright.  The 
psychic,  if  duly  fortified,  would  keep  deranged  conditions 
external ;  one  must  get  to  this  point  before  he  can  be¬ 
come  a  successful  mental  healer.  There  is  such  a  thing 
as  the  prostitution  of  the  mental  faculties  I 

By  holding  ourselves  external  to  suffering,  we  re¬ 
verse  the  picture  —  as  all  suffering  is  inversion ;  we  can 
then  help  the  patient  to  get  rid  of  it.  We  should  never 
allow  ourselves  to  come  under  the  influence  of  a  thing, 
because  we  see  it. 

“  With  God,  all  things  are  possible!”  “All  things 
are  possible  to  him  that  belie veth.”  Nothing  shall  be 
impossible  to  such.  When  a  man  is  working  according 
to  law,  all  things  are  possible  to  him.  If  he  ignores 
the  Law  of  the  Universe,  he  will  very  soon  find  that 
the  Law  of  the  Universe  will  have  its  own  way  regard¬ 
less  of  his  opposition,  and  his  opposition  is  what  will 
cause  his  own  inevitable  suffering. 

There  are  people  who  take  a  decided,  positive  ground, 
and  affirm  their  own  individuality  truly,  who  are  never 
annoyed  by  outside  influences.  We  must  be  able  to 
become  positive  and  negative,  at  will.  The  line  should 
be  drawn  resolutely  at  interference  or  control  of  our  in¬ 
dividuality  by  any  hypnotic  influence. 

MEDITATION. 

Perfect  equanimity,  mental  quiet,  is  essential  to  read 
the  Book  of  Nature.  “  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


77 


God !  ”  The  mighty  silence  —  and  waiting  !  Blending 
of  fearlessness  and  calm  expectancy  is  essential  to 
genuine  attainment  in  any  direction. 

f 

GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

A  person  who  has  attained  to  the  higher  carelessness 
is  the  one  who  is  ready  for  every  emergency. 

ATTAINMENT  OF  VIOTOKY. 

If  you  gain  a  victory  on  aii}^  plane,  that  victory  stands 
you  in  stead  for  all  future  time.  Yon  have  risen 
superior ;  it  is  the  rising  superior  to  sometliing  that  is 
of  use  to  us.  If  you  rise  in  your  own  mentality  and 
score  a  victory  once,  it  is  a  growth  that  can  he  employed 
for  all  time  to  come.  Once  gain  a  victory,  puid  that 
victory  is  yours  forever. 

We  can  change  at  will  the  polarity  of  our  own  con¬ 
dition.  There  is  a  scientific  law  of  action,  which  can 
be  acted  out  by  all  wlio  are  industrious  and  fearless 
enouo'h  to  trust  their  intuitions. 

O 

One  cannot  be  ha])py,  harmonious  or  well,  so  long  as 
he  allows  the  caprice  of  any  being  to  make  or  mar  his 
harmony. 

One  Avho  can  liurt  my  feelings  is  above  me,  and  will 
not  attempt  to  do  so ;  one  who  would  hurt  my  feelings 
is  below  me,  and  cannot  hurt  me. 

All  feeling  of  mental  uncertainty  makes  the  sight 
uncertain.  Cultivate  certainty  within  by  finest  medita¬ 
tion. 


78 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


HARMONIOUS  VIBRATION. 

Peace  is  from  the  heights  above  ;  discord  is  from  be¬ 
low. 

We  can  make  our  surroundings  tributary  to  our  needs  ; 
this  is  the  Law  of  Harmonious  Vibration. 

Through  the  Law  of  Attraction  we  can  get  from  the 
universe  whatever  we  need.  We  should  so  relate  our¬ 
selves  with  the  universe  that  we  can  say  with  Paul,  “  I 
have  learned,  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith  to  be 
content.”  How  very  few  are  the  necessaries  of  life ! 
‘‘  High  thinking,  and  plain  living  I  ” 

If  people  were  living  according  to  spiritual  law  — 
understanding  and  obeying  that  law  —  they  would  be 
able  to  change  poisons,  even,  into  liarmonious  food. 
They  would  be  able  to  so  control  the  different  ele¬ 
ments  taken  into  the  system  as  to  cause  one  element  to 
go  to  one  place,  and  another  to  go  to  a  distinct  part  of 
the  body :  making  different  combinations.  Therefore, 
it  would  be  possible  —  if  a  person  were  highly  enough 
unfolded  —  to  really  convert  usually  harmful  substances 
into  nourishing  food ;  just  as  fertilizers  are  put  upon 
the  earth,  and  serve  to  increase  its  fertility.  The  ele¬ 
ments  are  changed  in  their  relations,  through  disin¬ 
tegration  and  reintegration  of  their  constituent  par¬ 
ticles. 

We  believe  that  there  is  a  proper  diet.  The  ideal 
diet  would  be  a  diet  of  fruit  and  nuts.  The  very  highest 
type  of  man  would  be  perfectly  sustained  upon  fruit 
and  nuts  ;  but  until  we  can  put  ourselves  into  that  state, 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


T9 


we  must  get  out  of  what  we  now  take,  sucli  aliment  as 
we  need.  This  is  the  law  of  demand  —  to  make  such 
use  of  the  food  and  beverages  we  take,  as  to  get  what 
we  require  from  them.  It  all  depends  upon  what  you 
do  with  the  coffee  after  you  drink  it  as  to  whether  it  is 
well  for  you  to  drink  it  at  all. 

Whenever  you  go  against  any  force,  you  make  that 
force  your  adversary.  Go  and  place  yourself  in  harmony 
with  those  elements  that  you  are  at  enmity  with;  go 
and  make  it  up  with  the  east  wind,  or  the  rain,  or  the 
snow,  or  the  cold ;  those  elements  are  good  for  us,  pro¬ 
vided  we  put  ourselves  in  harmony  with  them.  There 
is  a  psychical  force  in  all  Nature  which  will  strengthen 
and  invigorate  us,  if  we  put  ourselves  in  harmony  with 
it. 

We  may  so  relate  ourselves  to  the  universe  that  we 
shall  be  as  lamps  living  upon  the  atmosphere. 

If  w''  know  how  to  relate  ourselves  to  our  surround¬ 
ings,  we  can  keep  ourselves  in  perfect  order. 

People  do  not  become  spiritual  in  consequence  of 
what  they  eat ;  but,  as  they  become  spiritual,  they  re¬ 
late  themselves  differently  to  food  —  to  everything. 
We  act  upon  the  fluid  secretions  of  our  systems  entirely 
through  our  mental  or  psychical  states. 

What  is  the  condition  of  your  system  ?  What  do  you 
do  with  the  food  after  you  eat  it  ?  —  that  is  the  impor¬ 
tant  question.  If  you  eat  a  boiled  egg,  in  a  certain 
mental  condition,  it  may  liave  a  totally  different  effect 
iq)on  your  system  than  when  eaten  in  another  mental 
condition. 


80 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


Mental  health  is  all-important. 

If  we  feel  opposed  to  anything,  we  must  bring  our¬ 
selves  into  harmonious  relation  with  it,  and  thus  cure 
our  antagonism. 

Whatever  we  hate  —  whatever  we  oppose  —  whatever 
we  antagonize  —  we  give  power  to  hurt  us. 

We  must  overcome  antagonism  and  prejudices. 
Wherever  there  is  antagonism,  or  wherever  there  is 
fear,  there  is  danger.  All  prejudices  and  fear  must  be 
overcome ;  because,  just  as^  long  as  these  exist,  there 
will  be  illness. 

All  remedial  agents  are  useless  as  long  as  there  is  an 
antao^onizing-  force  in  the  individual.  Until  we  have 

O  O 

trained  our  intellects  to  act  in  harmony  with  our  wills, 
we  cannot  be  well. 

There  are  just  two  courses  of  action  v/hich  are  safe ; 
to  put  ourselves  in  harmony  with  our  surroundings,  and 
go  with  them;  or  to  live  outside  of  them.  We  should 
never  allow  ourselves  to  go  against  anything  —  never 
allow  antagonism.  There  are  many  whom  we  need  not 
feel  called  upon  to  work  with.  Do  not  have  any  hard 
feelings  in  regard  to  such ;  merely  let  them  alone. 

Every  body  gets  out  of  things  just  what  it,  as  a 
magnet,  draws  out  of  them.  Tlie  ideal  state  is  to  be 
able  to  relate  ourselves  harmoniously  with  everything 
with  which  we  must  come  in  contact. 

A  very  small  act  may  be  an  indication  of  a  condition. 

Everything  has  its  own  rate  of  vibration. 

The  question  is  asked,  “  How  can  we  learn  the  rate  of 
vibration  of  anything  we  desire,  so  that  we  can  vibrate 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


81 


with  it  ?  ”  It  is  not  necessary  to  know  the  rate  of  vibra¬ 
tion,  in  order  to  come  into  harmonious  relation  with 
anything. 

Whenever  we  put  ourselves  through  sympathy  en 
rapport  with  anything,  we  vibrate  with  it  —  at  the  same 
rate  of  speed. 

Whenever  you  put  yourself  in  relation  with  anything 
in  the  universe,  you  can  attract  it.  If  you  choose  to 
believe  that  your  key  to  the  universe  is  only  through 
another  person’s  magnetism,  you  will  have  to  believe 
that  that  magnetism  has  reached  you  in  some  way  be¬ 
fore  you  can  be  helped.  But  you  should  get  free  from 
such  belief. 

God  might  say,  “  When  did  I  ever  appoint  a  janitor 
to  open  and  close  the  door  of  Heaven?” 

We  can  have  anything  we  want  in  our  own  spheres, 
if  we  can  only  relate  ourselves  to  it.  We  must  realize 
that  it  is  our  own  state.  It  is  not  the  external  surround¬ 
ing,  it  is  the  individual  himself  that  needs  to  be  effectu¬ 
ally  dealt  with. 

If  evolution  and  revolution  are  twins,  astronomical 
revolution  combines  both.  There  are  ever  two  move¬ 
ments  of  the  heavenly  bodies  ;  the  one,  round  and  round ; 
the  other  unceasingly  forward.  Man  travels  as  the 
planets  travel,  and  the  planets  travel  as  man  travels ; 
man  cannot  separate  himself  from  the  rhythmical  motion 
of  the  heavenly  spheres. 

A  person  vibrating  outside  the  ordinary  circles  is  not 
appreciated  by  the  masses  ;  it  is  a  circle  that  the  major¬ 
ity  of  people  do  not  know  anything  about.  One  will  be 


82 


GLINTS  OF  ^yISDOM. 


healed  and  blessed  by  being  brought  into  any  circle  if 
it  be  a  superior  one  to  the  one  in  which  he  has  been 
revolving. 

The  vibrations  which  give  one  pleasure  may  give 
another  pain. 

One  should  never  place  one’s  self  in  an  attitude  of 
antagonism,  because  this  attitude  always  injures  the  one 
who  holds  unlovely  thought. 

You  can  put  yourself  in  harmony  with  anything  by 
mentally  going  with  it ;  make  yourself  its  friend,  and  it 
will  be  your  friend. 

We  are  susceptible  to  the  mental  influence  of  those 
we  make  heroes  of,  if  we  associate  with  them.  We  can 
also  relate  ourselves  with  them,  through  the  Law  of 
Vibration  —  even  in  absence. 

If  you  get  into  a  mental  condition  which  causes  more 
rapid  circulation  of  the  blood,  the  rate  is  increased  — 
the  blood  flows  more  freely.  The  mental  condition  is 
the  only  thing  to  calculate. 

GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

Will  yourself  into  a  serene  mental  state,  and  you  need 
never  trouble  about  external  things,  as  they  will  all 
come  right  without  your  worrying. 


TELEPATHY. 

The  T  jaw  of  Vibration  is  the  universal  law.  Vibra¬ 
tions  do  not  have  to  reach  the  tympanum  of  the  physical 
ear.  Acknowledge  such  a  thing  as  telepathy  — -  thought- 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


83 


transference.  Make  yourself  a  magnet  to  attract  the 
special  quality  of  thought  you  most  desire.  You  can  be 
that  magnet,  wherever  you  may  be ;  it  is  a  mental  con¬ 
dition.  Your  circumstances  do  not  matter  at  all,  pro¬ 
vided  the  thought  formed  is  always  held  in  the  recep¬ 
tive  attitude ;  but  if  you  allow  the  thought  to  intrude 
that  something  is  a  hindrance,  it  will  be  a  hindrance  to 
you.  By  keeping  the  mental  magnet  always  firmly 
fixed,  you  will  draw  towards  you  whatever  you  desire 
to  attract. 

Telepathy  —  the  ability  to  produce  mental  action  at 
a  distance  —  may  be  developed  by  every  one  who  will 
patiently  seek  it. 

The  best  time  for  sending  a  mental  message  is  just 
wlien  you  feel  all  aglow  with  it.  Get  into  a  condition 
where  you  are  full  of  a  thought,  then  project  it. 

The  ability  to  send  and  receive  telepathic  communica¬ 
tions  depends  upon  the  development  of  the  persons  — 
and,  like  everything  else,  it  takes  practice.  Much  is 
lost  by  anxiety  and  striving  for  results. 

You  may  not  find  your  wires  working  perfectly,  at 
first ;  your  cables  may  even  break,  until  you  have  had 
wider  experience ;  but  the  time  is  coming  when  all  these 
difficulties  will  pass  aAvay. 

Almost  invariably,  people  put  themselves  into  the 
most  uncomfortable  attitudes  when  endeavoring  to  give 
•  a  mental  treatment,  or  to  send  or  receive  a  mental  tele¬ 
gram  ;  instead  of  being  perfectly  easy  and  natural  about 
it,  they  are  usually  in  an  unnatural  attitude,  and  en- 
deaAmr  to  force  themselves  into  difficult  positions. 


84 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


The  ability  to  work  wonders  is  not  through  technical 
knowledge,  but  through  psychical  development  which 
produces  a  higher  rate  of  vibration. 

Those  who  are  not  yet  developed  to  the  point  of  being 
able  to  project  their  thought,  for  them  there  is  not  any 
credible  proof  of  the  power  of  sending  thought  long  dis¬ 
tances.  Long-distance  telepathy  is,  however,  abundantly 
proved  by  constant  practice  on  the  part  of  the  serene- 
minded. 

Hold  yourself  firmly  where  you  are ;  encourage  your 
perception  to  extend  itself.  Many  people  develop 
hysteria  by  trying  to  get  out  in  the  astral  body,  and  do 
things  they  are  not  yet  prepared  for. 


CORRESPONDENCES. 

Everything  external  is  the  correspondence  of  some 
internal  condition. 

Our  own  souls  are  in  correspondences  with  Divine 
Good  —  in  each  working  out  our  own  salvation. 

This  world  is  only  a  world  of  effects  and  correspond¬ 
ences. 

Christ  builds  his  church  upon  the  rock  (Peter)  of  in¬ 
tuitive  perception  of  truth. 

J esus  Christ  means  goodness  and  truth  —  goodness, 
the  love  of  right ;  truth,  the  knowledge  of  right. 

“  A  stone  for  his  pillow,”  signifies  resting  on  the  rock 
of  truth. 

All  external  things  are  correspondences  ;  sweet  fruit 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


85 


is  a  correspondence  to  some  good  witliin  us,  of  wliich  it 
is  the  ultimate. 

When  a  man  is  bald,  it  signifies,  in  correspondence, 
that  he  has  nothing  to  conceal,  or  that  he  is  unable  to 
conceal. 

In  correspondent  language,  snow-white  hair  means 
that  one  has  come  into  a  condition  where,  from  good 
and  pure  internals,  one  has  come  to  express  pure  ex¬ 
ternals. 

There  is  the  same  adapted  relation  between  the  psy- 
i^ical  body  and  the  psychical  world  that  there  is  be¬ 
tween  the  physical  body  and  the  material  world. 

Because  the  interior  existence  of  all  things  is  spiritual, 
the  exterior  existence  may  be  spiritualized  so  as  to 
bring  it  into  perfect  conformity  with  the  inmost. 

There  is  a  perfect  analogy  between  subjective  and  ob¬ 
jective  experiences. 

The  “  white  stone  and  new  name  written  therein  ” 
granted  to  those  who  are  “  sealed  in  the  forehead,”  is  the 
clear  perception  of  truth  which  an  individual  enjoys 
who  has  earned  illumination  through  fidelity  under  all 
provocation. 


ASSOCIATION  AND  ORGANIZATION. 

Association  and  organization  are  words  vastly  dif¬ 
ferent  in  their  signification.  An  organization  must  be  a 
perfect  whole ;  a  body  having  its  different  members, 
each  important  in  its  place. 


86 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


There  is  not  a  single  religions  organization  that  does 
not  in  some  way  cramp  its  members.  Can  you  form  a 
Spiritual  Organization  ?  If  you  can  form  a  spiritual 
organization  without  a  material  head,  you  can  obtain  the 
most  remarkable  results. 

Real  spiritual  work  does  not  involve  business  man¬ 
agement. 

A  company  of  people,  aibracted  to  ea,ch  other  by  the 
law  of  psychical  affinity  —  held  together  in  the  embrace 
of  true  brotherhood  and  sisterhood  —  these  might  meet, 
in  each  other’s  homes  —  no  initiation  fees  —  no  dues  — 
such  might  attain  true  spiritual  development.  If  you 
come  together  with  one  accord,  your  purpose  shall  be 
granted. 


MEMORY. 

Loss  of  control  over  memory  is  a  sign  of  insanity. 

.  People  strong  mentally  have  good  control  over  their 
memories. 

We  do  not  ever  forget,  but  something  comes  between 
our  mental  vision  and  the  recollection  of  an  object. 

No  one  ever  forgets  anything.  Instead  of  endeavoring 
to  strengthen  memory,  we  must  undertake  to  gain  an 
adequate,  where  we  now  have  a  very  insufficient  com¬ 
mand  over  our  memories. 

Take  the  mental  attitude,  “  I  will  remember  whatever 
I  Avill  to  remember.” 

Will  the  memory  of  our  follies  remain  forever?  No  ; 
not  when  we  have  overcome  them.  The  sight  of  evil  is 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


87 


our  penalty ;  if  we  create  discords,  they  will  ring  in  our 
own  ears.  We  should  endeavor  to  interpret  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  Karma  broadly.  If  I  make  a  discord  in  my  own 
psychical  sphere,  that  discord  rings  in  my  own  ears  — 
just  as  our  individual  environment  is  of  our  own  making. 
If  I  throw  into  my  own  individual  sphere  that  which 
makes  me  suffer,  I  need  to  change  my  own  state.  Out¬ 
side  things  are  well  enough ;  we  must  change  ourselves 
inwardly  before  we  can  rightly  relate  ourselves  to  any 
surrounding. 

There  is  a  universal  Book  of  Remembrance,  where 
everything  is  recorded.  This  volume  is  the  interstellar 
atmosphere. 

“Absent-minded”  expresses  many  a  case  exactly; 
absent-minded  here,  present-minded  somewhere  else. 
Our  objective  and  subjective  entities  are  not  fully  con¬ 
nected  on  this  plane  of  existence,  and  until  they  are, 
remembering  and  forgetting  must  perpetually  exist  as 
phenomena  in  our  experience. 


KARMA. 

When  we  consider  man  as  the  child  of  God,  we  find 
the  true  basis  of  incarnation. 

Chaimeful  Karma  has  an  existence  ;  it  has  no  sub- 

O 

sistence.  It  is  so  with  all  evil  or  error. 

We  may  accept  the  doctrine  of  Karma,  but  not  all 
modern  interpretations  of  it.  Karma  is  simply  se¬ 
quence,  the  inevitable  connection  between  cause  and 


88 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


effect,  not  a  force  which  is  bottled  up  and  awaits  one  at 
the  threshold  of  a  new  incarnation ;  for  we  are  sowing 
and  reaping  every  moment  we  live.  Karma  is  con¬ 
tinually  operating :  we  are  making  it  —  modifying  it  — 
changing  it  —  not  only  by  every  act,  but  by  every 
thought  we  entertain.  We  cannot  interfere  with  Karma, 
but  we  can  learn  to  make  it  serve  us. 

A  person  may  be  treated  mentally,  by  hypnotism ;  if 
a  person  is  willing  to  be  hypnotized,  he  can  be  hypno¬ 
tized.  Not  that  any  one  yielding  to  mesmeric  or 
liypnotic  influence  has  his  Karma  interfered  with  there¬ 
by  ;  but  the  Karma  of  the  different  phases  of  existence 
—  the  consequences  of  past  life,  remembered  or  unre¬ 
membered —  is  what  permits  this  influence. 

In  mental  treatment,  some  people  seem  to  yield  at 
once,  others  much  more  slowly,  or  not  at  all ;  they  are 
impenetrable,  like  a  rhinoceros’s  hide.  Karma  is  made 
manifest  by  their  different  degrees  of  susceptibility. 
Their  Karma  cannot  be  interfered  with ! 

One  person  may  require  treatment,  another  may  be 
able  to  give  treatment  to  others ;  there,  again,  is  a  mani* 
festation  of  Karma.  The  susceptibility  to  disease  shows 
an  evidence  of  Karma.  Again,  we  see  an  evidence  of 
Karma  in  susceptibility  to  temptation.  We  have  the 
power  to  call  out  from  those  easily  influenced  any  phase 
of  character  we  will.  The  Karma  of  different  individ¬ 
uals  is  made  manifest  by  these  various  degrees  or  con¬ 
ditions. 

If  })ersons  come  to  you  who  are  capable  of  being 
helped  in  any  way,  don’t  leave  them  to  their  Karma  I  It 


GLINTS  OF  AYISDOM. 


89 


is  your  Karma  as  much  as  theirs  that  has  brought  you 
together.  If  you  help  them,  you  are  not  only  making 
good  Karma  for  yourself,  but  helping  them  also  to  make 
good  Karma  for  themselves.  Do  not  leave  people  to 
their  fate  !  The  most  pestilential  doctrine  is  that  of 
leaving  people  to  their  Karma.  No  one  is  making  any¬ 
thing  that  could  be  called  good  Karma  unless  he  is 
doing  all  he  can  to  uplift  humanity.  The  wave  of 
mental  influence  that  goes  out  to  help  others,  must  help 
one’s  self  also. 

Kesignation  to  a  supposed  inevitable  condition  —  if  a 
person  is  suffering  from  anything  —  on  the  plea  that  it 
is  his  Karma,  merits  no  sympathy  whatever. 

When  bad  Karma  makes  itself  manifest ;  the  way  to 
get  rid  of  it  is  to  work  in  some  good  Karma. 

All  talk  about  souls  dying  out,  or  losing  a  soul,  is 
mediseval  rubbish  !  The  doctrines  of  Karma,  and  of  re¬ 
incarnation  can  be  stated  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prove 
acceptable  to  all  deep  thinkers.  The  real  doctrine  is, 
that  every  human  soul  has  a  history.  If  there  are  can¬ 
nibals  on  earth  to-day,  they  will  rise  to  the  heights  we 
have  attained ;  we  shall  never  go  down  to  their  level, 
but  they  will  rise  to  ours.  We  may  have  been  where 
they  now  are.  We  never  go  down  in  the  scale  of  devel¬ 
opment.  When  we  speak  of  the  evolution  of  mankind, 
we  mean  that  the  human  race  is  continually  rising.  We 
liold  that  individual  man  rises  as  the  race  rises,  that 
each  has  a  past  which  has  led  up  to  his  present. 

When  the  soul  seeks  another  expression  on  earth, 
Karma  will  cause  it  to  seek  those  parents  appropriate 


90 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


to  its  further  development.  Choice  manifests  our  intel¬ 
ligence  ;  choice  is  one  thing,  freedom  of  choice  is  a 
growing  quantity. 

It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  souls  should  precipitate 
themselves  into  very  disastrous  surroundings.  That  the 
soul  to  be  reincarnated  has  the  opportunity  of  choosing 
its  own  environment,  and  deliberately  makes  choice  of 
its  parentage,  is  the  doctrine  promulgated  by  many  wise 
minds.  Mistakes  are  made  again  and  again,  through 
inexperience.  There  will  be  final  triumpii  over  these 
obstacles.  Every  one  rises  by  gradual  stages  to  the 
accomplishment  of  noble  results. 

On  the  basis  of  Astrology,  a  person  born  at  a  certain 
time  will  have  certain  opportunities  peculiar  to  himself ; 
those  opportunities  may  be  embraced,  or  not,  as  the  in¬ 
dividual  may  elect. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  relative  human  freedom. 

Some  say  it  is  not  right  to  interfere  with  Karma. 
Karma  cannot  be  interfered  with,  because  it  is  the  law 
of  cause  and  effect. 

If  we  make  our  Karma,  we  can  unmake  it.  To  affirm 
that  a  person  cannot  turn  around  and  make  good  Karma 
appears  ridiculous. 

Those  people  are  entitled  to  no  sympathy  who  say,  if 
their  Karma  has  brought  them  into  the  pitiful  condition 
in  which  they  now  are,  they  will  have  to  wait  for  it  to 
work  itself  out,  for  it  is  only  their  own  activity  that  can 
relieve  them. 

If  you  have  a  bad  tenant  in  your  house,  you  must  get 
him  out. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


91 


Every  one  lias  it  in  his  power  to  repair  the  damage 
done  by  himself.  No  human  act  is  irrevocable,  but  he 
who  did  the  deed  is  the  only  one  who  can  undo  it.  Evil 
deeds  are  only  overcome  by  good  deeds. 


EMANATIONS. 

Every  one  throws  out  a  psychical  and  a  physical  mag¬ 
netism  —  and  must,  just  as  flowers  throw  out  their 
odors. 

We  can  produce  such  a  chemical  change  in  our  organ¬ 
ism,  by  improved  thought,  that  it  can  be  detected  by 
those  around  us. 

Every  one  gives  out  a  psychic  force,  and  that  force 
penetrates  everything  he  touches. 

When  people  gather  in  any  place,  they  produce  a 
psychic  condition  therein,  which  can  be  felt  by  all  sen¬ 
sitives. 

Man  is  constantly  evolving  that  which  is  within  him. 
The  very  atmosphere  is  being  saturated  with  our  ema¬ 
nations  ;  everything  is  permeated  with  the  flux  of  our 
mentality.  We  are  giving  character  even  to  the  utensils 
which  we  employ  ;  and,  go  where  we  v/ill,  we  are  con¬ 
stantly  characterizing  everything  with  which  we  come 
in  contact. 

How  do  we  give  out  our  psychic  emanations  ?  In  tlie 
same  way  that  we  breathe,  in  the  same  way  that  we 
perspire.  Different  people  give  out  different  emanations  ; 
and  the  same  people  give  out  different  emanations  at 


92 


GLINTS  OP  WISDOM. 


different  times.  Yoiir  emanations  can  be  analyzed. 
One  in  a  sensitive  condition  can  detect  emanations  — 
just  as  when  we  come  in  contact  with  the  perfume  of  a 
flower. 

Decisive  people  give  out  distinct  emanations.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  individuality  is  the  force  of  the  emana¬ 
tion  —  like  the  odors  of  flowers,  differing  in  quality  and 
degree. 

We  every  one  of  us  endow  even  inanimate  tilings 
with  psycliical  influences ;  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a 
virtuous  pocket-haudkerchief.  You  can  throw  some¬ 
thing  of  your  goodness  into  your  apron,  so  that  others 
who  may  chance  to  wear  it  will  feel  the  influence.  Some 
of  our  psychical  force  goes  into  all  the  things  we  touch. 

By  our  thoughts  —  by  our  atmosphere  —  we  can  con¬ 
secrate  the  very  air  of  our  dwellings,  and  make  them 
abodes  of  blessing. 

People  in  the  best  thought  have  only  to  go  into  a 
room,  to  consecrate  it. 

Every  thought  we  think  in  any  place  influences  more 
or  less  the  atmosphere  of  that  plaee,  and,  to  some  extent,’ 
influences  every  one  who  comes  into  it,  according  to  the 
degree  of  sensitiveness  of  the  person. 

People  in  a  sad  condition  render  the  air  depressing. 

Spirit,  we  admit,  works  through  material  means  to 
ultimate  expression. 

There  is  the  great  metaphysical  demonstration  —  to 
use  material  things,  and  then  show  how,  through  ordi¬ 
nary  material  channels,  mental  effects  may  be  produced. 
The  psychical  principle  enables  us  to  work  cures,  even 
through  the  use  of  material  means. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


93 


In  regard  to  emanations  from  psychical  power,  the 
intention  regulates  the  psychical  force  tlirown  out. 

Endow  everything  you  give  out  with  an  electrical 
principle,  then  you  can  effect  cures  with  external 
things ;  but  unless  you  can  endow  them  with  the 
psychic  principle,  they  will  not  produce  cures. 

The  true  basis  of  healing  scientifically  is  to  he  some¬ 
thing,  and  then  do  something  because  you  are  something. 
It  is  utterly  impossible  to  carry  a  spiritual  influence 
anywhere  without  that  spiritual  influence  doing  its 
work.  The  emanation  from  an  individual  is  what  it  is 
because  he  is  what  he  is.  It  does  what  it  does  because 
the  individual  is  in  the  condition  he  is.  All  the  work 
of  giving  treatments,  as  usually  practised,  is  a  limited 
phase  of  the  “  gift  of  healing.” 

We  can  endow  whatever  we  touch  with  a  psychical 
quality  which  we  impart  to  it ;  and  this  psychical  qual¬ 
ity  can  be  imparted  by  the  administerer  to  the  receiver. 
A  great  many  people  are  healed  through  these  agencies. 

It  is  this  psychic  faculty  which,  has  made  it  possible 
for  the  performance  of  the  cures  ascribed  to  shrines, 
amulets,  magnetized  paper,  and  feticlies  of  every  sort. 

People  are  influenced  by  both  tlie  mental  and  physical 
emanations  which  others  have  thrown  into  these  recep¬ 
tacles. 

Every  person  gives  out  a  psychical  emanation,  which 
is  the  direct  result  of  his  present  condition. 

On  the  spiritual  plane,  one  who  is  living  in  the  higher 
thought  constantly,  projects  that  thought  continually  — 
just  as  beautiful  flowers  give  out  the  fragrance  which 


94 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


properly  belongs  to  them.  But  you  cannot  get  the  odor 
of  a  rose  from  an  onion.  Aura  partakes  of  the  chemical 
constitution  of  the  individual,  exactly  as  in  the  case  of 
a  flower.  It  is  just  so  on  the  plane  of  thought — one 
must  he  something  in  order  to  do  something ;  and  being 
what  he  is,  he  does  what  he  does.  You  simply  give  out 
what  you  have  within — the  result  of  what  you  really 
are. 

W e  always  get  our  best  thoughts  most  readily  in  tran¬ 
quil  places  Avhere  people  have  thrust  out  good  or  wise 
thoughts. 

MEDITATION. 

We  give  out  whatever  we  possess ;  we  cannot  help  it. 
Our  emanations  must  be  in  accordance  with  our  centre. 
We  do  not  lose  anything  or  become  depleted  by  giving 
out  emanations,  for  w^e  receive  on  the  one  hand  as  we 
give  on  the  other. 


THE  REAL  EGO  — ATMA. 

There  are  four  distinct  planes  of  life  :  the  sensual,  the 
intellectual,  the  moral  and  the  spiritual. 

In  the  region  of  sense-consciousness,  man  lives  a 
physical  life  ;  a  well-ordered  physical  life  is  proper,  on 
the  physical  plane. 

There  are  two  distinct  elements  manifested  on  all 
planes  of  human  nature ;  the  one  the  emotional,  the 
other  the  intellectual ;  both  of  which  need  to  be  taken 
into  account. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


95 


What  is  life  ?  We  are  not  inquiring  What  are  lives  ? 
but  What  is  the  one  life  ?  and  how  may  we  discover  it  ? 
Man  is  to  reveal  his  soul.  The  soul  is  within,  but  is 
capable  of  unlimited  expansion.  The  spirit  cannot  be 
put  into  man,  but  must  be  brought  out  of  him.  It  is 
not  as  though  the  Holy  Spirit  were  a  surgeon,  going  to 
perform  a  surgical  operation  and  take  an  old  heart  out. 
Within  the  old  nature  of  the  man  is  to  be  found  the 
new.  Like  the  evolution  of  the  butterfly  from  the 
grub. 

I  shall  never  find  all  there  is  to  find  in  my  soul  —  in 
this  stage  of  existence. 

When  you  are  introduced  to  your  own  soul,  you  will 
find  it  is  simply  your  own  higher  self. 

Properly  speaking,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  physical 
sense  or  a  physical  faculty.  The  five  so-called  bodily 
senses  are  only  five  modes  of  sensing  things  which  can 
be  sensed  spiritually. 

It  is  I  who  smell  —  not  my  nostrils.  I  may  feel 
through  my  fingers,  etc. ;  but  Jam  the  seer,  the  hearer, 
etc.  My  body  has  no  ability  to  do  anything. 

There  is  but  one  sensorium :  there  are  five  distinct 
ways  l)y  which  unitary  sensation  expresses  itself. 

The  whole  intellectual  process  is  summed  up  when 
you  say,  “  I  knoAV  it !  ” 

‘‘  Melcliizedek  ”  does  not  refer  to  an  individual,  but  to 
the  life  principle  of  man  —  the  real  Ego. 

Wliatever  is  from  eternity,  is  to  eternity  ! 

Does  everything  live  forever?  No  ;  only  that  which 
j)artakes  of  the  quality  of  Divinity  can  live  forever. 


96 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


Man  is  immortal  by  virtue  of  his  possession  of  the  in¬ 
dwelling  principle  of  Divinity. 

Man  has  but  one  heing^  but  he  may  have  many  exist- 
ances. 

Tlie  true  Ego  works  through  the  brain,  whether  it  be 
in  a  healthy  or  unhealthy  condition.  The  brain  is  sim¬ 
ply  the  vehicle  through  which  the  intelligent  entity  ex¬ 
presses  itself  outwardly. 

“  Atma  ”  is  the  term  for  the  Divinity  within. 

Atma  —  the  essential  spiritual  principle  — may  become 
so  unfolded  that  it  will  entirely  dominate  the  material 
senses, —  it  is  thus  unfolded  in  those  who  may  be  called 
Mahatmas.”  Mahatmas  are  those  in  whom  Atma 
(Divine  principle)  is  unusually  unfolded.  Those  through 
wlioni  the  soul  is  more  than  usually  expressed.  They 
stand  upon  mountain  heights.  A  mountain  is  climbed 
through  continuous,  persistent  effort.  Upon  the  top  of 
the  mountain  a  vision  is  obtained  which  cannot  be 
viewed  by  those  on  tlie  plains ;  from  this  similitude 
arises  tlie  title  “  Himalayan  Brothers.” 

To  speak  something  into  manifestation  is  to  cause  its 
inward  form  to  appear  in  external  shape.  There  is  a 
distinction  between  form  and  sliape.  The  external 
shape  is  the  outward  similitude ;  the  interior  form  re¬ 
mains  forever  the  same.  Therefore,  shapes  come  and 
go,  form  never  changes. 

As  form  ever  exists,  there  never  will  or  can  come  a 
time  when  there  will  lie  no  liuman  form. 

The  shape  can  lie  spoken  into  existence  tlirough  the 
operation  of  the  Law  of  Vibration.  Man  can  create  and 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


97 


destroy  shapes,  but  man  has  no  power  over  form  — 
eitlier  to  produce  or  annihilate  it. 

Form  itself  is  eternal,  immortal ;  and  the  correspond¬ 
ing  shape  answers  more  or  less  perfectly  to  that  form. 

Things  which  are  unseen  by  the  mortal  eye  are  easily 
seen  by  the  eye  of  the  spiritual  body.  Things  unheard 
by  the  fleshly  ear  are  clearly  heard  by  the  spiritual  ear. 

If  people  would  only  study  the  interior  meaning 
of  things,  they  would  greatly  improve  their  phrase- 
ology. 

The  human  structure  renews  itself  from  within.  When 
our  work  on  this  plane  is  completed,  we  shall  pass 
awa}^ ;  not  that  you  will  be  obliged  to  go,  your  body  will 
not  be  taken  from  you.  There  will  be  no  ravaging  dis¬ 
ease,  no  pain ;  you  will  simply  let  your  body  go.  It 
will  be  immediate  yet  tranquil  disintegration. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  separation  of  principles  at 
physical  death.  Death  simply  means  dropping  the 
material  body.  Death  to  old  conditions  and  birth  to  the 
new,  is  a  change  which  may  take  place  in  this  world  — 
a  death  unto  carnality  and  birth  unto  spirituality. 

There  is  no  separation  of  principles  in  reality,  but  the 
transmutation  of  the  lower  into  the  higher.  Tlie  mo¬ 
ment  we  can  see  that  there  is  a  transformation  or  trans¬ 
mutation  of  the  lower  into  the  higher,  we  have  solved 
the  mystery,  we  have  overcome  death ! 

There  is  no  essential  difference  between  the  condition 
of  the  spirit  after  dropping  tlie  body  and  the  sleeping 
condition  every  night.  If  Ave  could  l)ut  understand 
what  Ave  do  Avlien  Ave  are  asleep  —  Avhere  Ave  go  Avhen 


98 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


asleep  —  we  could  very  well  say  that  what  is  called 
death  is  but  a  continuation  of  sleep. 

According  to  the  teaching  of  electrical  physiology, 
the  germ  of  our  organization  does  not  change  ;  it  vital¬ 
izes  the  new  organization,  which  will  be  made  up  of 
new  combinations  of  elements. 

All  that  is  necessary  to  restore  a  person  to  health  is 
to  arouse  the  electrical  germ  to  activity.  A  person  in  a 
state  of  perfect  health  —  in  what  condition  is  he  ?  The 
electrical  germ  at  the  centre  of  his  being  is  so  active 
that  it  fully  vitalizes  the  whole  system,  and  then  life 
overflows ;  the  individual  is  so  vitalized,  so  electrified, 
that  he  radiates  life  wherever  he  goes.  He  is  in  a  har¬ 
monious  electrical  condition.  If  such  a  one  comes  into 
your  room,  he  will  leave  his  psychical  emanations  there 
—  wherever  he  has  stopped,  upon  whatever  he  has 
touched.  You  feel  much  stronger  than  before,  much 
brighter  and  more  cheerful,  after  the  visit  of  such  a  per¬ 
son. 

One  who  lives  according  to  Divine  Law,  must  have 
this  overplus  of  vitality,  and  therefore  is  a  spontaneous 
healer. 

MEDITATION. 

Man,  while  a  unit,  manifests  on  many  different 
planes. 

“King  of  Salem”  means  he  who  rules  in  Peace.  No 
one  can  attain  to  this  peace  until  he  has  found  his  soul. 

Our  own  soul  is  God’s  messeuQfer  in  us  I 

Do  as  God  tells  you  in  your  own  soul !  Take  any 
(][uestion  —  no  matter  how  trivial  the  inquiry  may  be  — 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


99 


into  the  silence,  and  receive  the  Divine  response.  As 
people  come  more  and  more  into  the  presence  of  their 
own  higher  selves,  they  will  know  where  to  find  a 
counsellor  and  advisor,  at  all  times. 

A  man  must  get  acquainted  with  his  own  soul  before 
he  can  be  truly  influential.  One  who  does  this  can  dis¬ 
cover  how  to  live  in  divine  harmony  in  all  conditions. 

Every  psyche  can  take  care  of  its  own  body  if  left  to 
its  work  uninterruptedly. 

GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

Whatever  we  cannot  destroy  is  good,  for  good  only  is 
permanent. 


DREAMING  TRUE. 

In  dreams  and  visions  to-day,  as  in  olden  times,  man 
may  see  what  is  before  him.  Any  one  may  be  as  Joseph. 

But  anybody  can  dream  —  anybody  can  have  a 
vision,  like  Pharaoh  and  his  butler  and  baker  —  they 
could  dream,  but  knew  not  the  meaning  thereof.  Jo¬ 
seph  not  only  could  dream,  but  was  able  to  see  the 
interpretation  of  his  own  dreams,  and  theirs  also. 

Some  will  say,  “  If  a  deluge  is  coming,  what  good 
does  it  do  for  us  to  know  it?  Are  we  benefited  by 
crossing  bridges  before  we  come  to  them  ?  ”  Such 
reasoning  is  no  reasoning  at  all :  it  is  specious  fallacy 
and  mere  sophistry,  for  there  is  no  analogy. 

In  regard  to  the  approaching  seven  years  of  scarcity : 


100 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


during  the  seven  years  of  2)leiity,  enough  might  have 
been  saved  up  to  last  the  nation  through  the  years  of 
famine ;  all  might  have  made  the  same  provision  that 
Joseph  did.  This  is  a  pictorial  lesson  of  vast  import. 

The  state  of  dreaming  is  an  evidence  of  man’s  psy¬ 
chical  consciousness.  While  most  of  us  dream  false  or 
imperfectly,  there  are  some  who  dream  true  ;  we  all 
dream  true  occasionally. 

We  talk  of  composing  ourselves  to  go  to  sleep.  You 
can  go  to  bed  with  an  uncomfortable  thought,  but  do 
not  allow  yourself  to  go  to  sleep  with  it. 

No  one  should  ever  allow  himself  to  sleep  without 
first  putting  his  mental  house  in  order.  Never  allow 
the  shadows  of  night  to  fall  until  you  have  put  out  of 
your  mind  every  discordant  thought.  Fumigate  your 
7nental  apartments  by  putting  yourselves  into  right 
mental  attitude ;  cleanse  your  mental  apartments ;  ban¬ 
ish  mental  microbes  ! 

Do  not  most  of  us  retire  at  night  in  a  flijipant  way  ? 
How  many  people  think  that  it  is  really  necessary  to 
take  thought  about  it  ?  How  many  of  us  are  careful 
about  our  mental  clothing?  We  are  very  particular  as 
to  the  care  of  our  bodies,  priding  ourselves  upon  our 
cleanliness,  putting  on  clean  linen  every  day,  etc. ;  but 
that  is  only  skin  deep.  What  about  our  thoughts  ?  Of 
the  two,  it  is  better  to  have  a  clean  heart  and  dirty 
hands,  than  clean  hands  and  a  dirty  mind.  A  person’s 
occupation  may  be  of  such  a  cliaracter  that  he  is  obliged 
to  get  Ids  liands  and  clotltes  soiled ;  circumstances 
greatly  control  these  things.  But  there  are  no  condi- 


GLINTS  OF  ^yrSDOM. 


101 


tions  ill  which  wc  cannot  govern  onr  tlioughts  ;  circum¬ 
stance,  surrounding  environment,  matters  not  at  all  in 
this  regard. 

Again  —  about  sleeping  with  yonr  head  in  a  certain 
position — ^this  cannot  always  be  regulated,  as  when 
travelling.  People  must  give  up  all  such  puerilities,  if 
they  wish  to  become  rightly  related  to  the  spiritual  uni¬ 
verse.  It  is  bondage  to  things  which  causes  all  the  sick¬ 
ness  in  the  world.  The  mental  condition  attracts  all 
things  —  according  to  its  attitude.  The  mental  condi¬ 
tion  must  have  its  corresponding  effect  upon  the  physical 
condition. 

About  dreams :  bad  dreams  are  usually  attributed  to 
late  suppers,  etc. ;  it  may  be  so,  if  a  person  is  in  the 
mental  condition  to  make  a  supper  disagree  with  him. 
It  depends  altogether  upon  the  mental  condition.  Put 
one  thinof  is  certain  :  it  is  never  safe  to  retire  to  rest 
with  even  an  uncomfortable  thought ! 

During  the  night — in  the  subjective,  negative  state 
—  people  do  not  know  what  influences  they  are  open 
to.  No  end  of  mental  and  physical  ailments  result  from 
bad  dreams  and  insomnia.  Wrong  thought  makes 
people  ill  through  their  dreams,  causing  a  feeling  of 
illness  or  languor  in  the  morning. 

We  not  only  must  remain  posivive  during  the  day, 
but  must  maintain  that  mental  attitude  upon  going  to 
sleep. 

At  night,  we  are  in  the  condition  to  draw  towards  us 
whatever  we  please  —  by  going  to  sleep  in  the  proper 
mental  state. 


102 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


We  are  magnets  !  Take  a  mental  batli  every  night 
before  going  to  bed.  Put  away  from  you  everything 
that  could  be  a  magnet  to  attract  what  is  bad  or  un¬ 
pleasant. 

The  mind  in  a  chaotic  condition  will  cause  confused 
dreams.  One  needs  to  be  in  a  perfectly  healthy,  well- 
balanced  condition,  to  be  able  to  dream  true  —  not 
dreaming  of  missing  tmins,  and  a  good  deal  else  that  is 
hysteria. 

You  cannot  get  into  a  condition  for  dreaming  true 
until  you  are  in  peace  and  harmony  with  all  around  you. 

Instead  of  always  jumping  to  the  conclusion  that 
people  you  misunderstand  are  unkind,  calmly  ask  for 
an  explanation ;  when  you  do  this  in  a  quiet,  calm  way, 
errors  may  very  often  be  explained  away.  This  calm, 
quiet  attitude  prevents  great  misery. 

It  is  a  most  dano'erous  thino'  to  P‘0  to  bed  havinof  a 
good  cry  over  some  grief  or  misunderstanding,  drawing 
all  the  depressing  influences  that  sucli  a  state  must  needs 
attract.  The  best  way  is  to  have  an  understanding  — 
clear  the  atmosphere ;  sometimes  it  takes  an  electrical 
storm  to  do  this. 

Thinking  that  people  wish  to  injure  us  is  usually  a 
symptom  of  hysteria.  Hysteria  is  the  high  road  to  in¬ 
sanity. 

If  cats  keep  one  awake,  his  mental  state  is  not  very 
far  developed.  We  should  not  throw  a  boot-jack  at  the 
cats,  but  throw  it  at  ourselves  —  mentally. 

By  placing  ourselves  en  rapport  with  any  thing  or  any 
place  we  choose  to  select  before  going  to  sleep,  we  can 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


103 


draw  to  us  during  sleep  the  influences  which  we  desire 
to  relate  ourselves  with. 

A  dream,  ordinarily,  is  not  a  vision.  A  dream  is  a 
reflection ;  whatever  we  dream  or  image,  we  reflect.  A 
true  dream  is  a  true  reflection,  while  a  false  dream  is  a 
false  reflection.  The  original  meaning  of  a  dream  was  - 
“a  vision  of  the  night”  —  not  what  people  usually  call 
dreams  in  their  present  ignorance. 

Vision  means  a  sight  of  something.  We  may  have 
visions  in  the  night  —  and  also  in  the  day,  when  we  are 
awake.  There  is  undoubtedly  a  distinction  between  a 
dream  and  a  vision.  Now,  what  is  a  dream?  There  is 
actually  a  dreamdife.  We  travel  while  we  sleep. 

We  may  travel,  or  remain  stationary  where  we  are; 
but  we  can  become  related  to  anything  we  choose  by 
concentrating  our  thought  steadily  upon  it. 

Man  is  capable  of  living  in  other  worlds  during  sleep. 

When  people  talk  of  another  world,  they  often  think 
of  a  long,  attenuated  cord  stretching  out  into  space  to 
other  worlds. 

We  should  not  say  “the  other  world  and  this,”  but 
“  the  other  side  of  this.” 

Let  us  understand  the  distinction  between  the  sub¬ 
jective  and  objective  —  man’s  dual  mind.  Let  us  go 
over  onto  the  other  side.  When  we  are  in  the  subjec¬ 
tive,  let  us  go  over  to  the  objective  ;  and  when  we  are 
in  the  objective,  let  us  go  over  to  the  subjective  state. 

The  subjective  is  simply  tlie  unseen. 

The  word  “  unconscious  ”  is  greatly  misajiplied ; 
instead,  we  should  say,  a  person  passes  from  one  plane 
of  consciousness  to  another. 


t 


104  GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 

When  people  give  puerile  little  interpretations  to 
great  words,  they  do  things  as  absurd  as  did  the  Hitler¬ 
ites . 

Extended  perception  —  the  definition  of  this  faculty 
of  going  to  chbsen  places  during  sleep  —  may  be  devel¬ 
oped.  When  liberated  from  the  mental  state  of  thral¬ 
dom,  the  mind  can  travel  where  it  will.  Thus,  it  is  well 
to  use  the  night-time  for  the  process  of  attraction. 

Do  not  try  to  go  anywhere,  in  the  s-eiise  of  making  a 
journey,  but  resolve  to  relate  yourself  with  what  you 
wish  to  know.  We  can  relate  ourselves  with  anything 
in  the  universe ;  but  full  expectation  must  go  with  this 
effort. 

At  night,  we  have  withdrawn  from  the  ordinary  occu¬ 
pations  of  the  day.  That  simple  withdrawal  gives  us  a 
chance  to  contemplate  spiritual  things,  causes  us  to  be 
receptive  to  the  spiritual ;  it  is  thus  that  people  have 
experiences  during  the  night,  which  they  do  not  have 
during  the  day. 

In  regard  to  going  to  sleep  in  order  to  see  one’s  self 
in  some  other  position  or  plane,  it  is  sometimes  asked, 
“  Why  do  we  not  see  the  angels  during  the  day,  as  well 
as  during  the  night  ?  ”  Why  do  we  not  see  the  stars 
during  the  day  ? 

When  we  speak  of  regulating  our  dreams,  we  must 
always  recollect  that  we  cannot  govern  everything  at 
first  —  on  a  psychic  plane  —  as  long  as  we  are  living 
here  on  the  material  plane  in  states  of  comparative 
bondage. 

We  have  first  to  gain  victories  over  things  lying 
nearest  to  us. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM, 


105 


We  can  get  anything  during  sleep  by  holding  for  it 
before  going  to  sleep  —  persistently.  People  may  relate 
themselves,  on  the  psychical  plane,  to  the  very  sources 
of  knowledge,  and  so  absorb  information  at  night  that 
they  can  use  it  by  day. 

Knowledge  during  sleep  soaks  into  one,  as  it  were. 
It  starts  with  the  interior  and  works  out  if  not  inter¬ 
rupted,  to  the  extremest  plane  of  objective  conscious¬ 
ness. 

These  things  which  are  taken  into  the  subjective 
entity  during  sleep  may  not  be  apparent  to  the  outer 
consciousness  at  first,  but  they  will  come  forth  as  they 
are  needed. 

Many  things  are  not  remembered  on  the  objective 
plane,  but  the  effect  of  our  having  undergone  an  expe¬ 
rience  is  just  as  real,  whether  we  have  any  recollection 
of  it,  or  not.  This  is  true  in  relation  to  true  dreaming, 
when  consciousness  is  functioning  on  the  psychical 
plane. 

“  We  are  such  stuff 
As  dreams  are  made  of,  and  our  little  life 
Is  rounded  with  a  sleep.” 


PSYCHICAL  UNFOLDMENT. 

Anybody  can  develop  the  psychic  temperament  who 
chooses.  Some  people  are  born  with  a  much  greater 
development  than  others,  but  it  is  embryotic  in  us  all. 
We  all  have  it  potentially,  but  to  express  it  is  a  matter 
of  unfoldment. 


106 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


There  are  far  more  distinct  temperaments  than  are 
usually  regarded ;  very  few  people  understand  the 
psychic  temperament.  The  psychic  temperament  is 
peculiar  to  itself ;  it  is  one  which  has  to  he  judiciously 
cultivated,  in  order  to  get  the  best  effects.  It  is  the 
temperament  which  is  necessary  for  unusual  success 
along  psychical  lines. 

It  requires  some  development  of  the  psychical  faculty 
to  give  mental  treatments.  The  ability  to  give  mental 
treatments  successfully  is  a  result  of  growth  or  devel¬ 
opment. 

Some  children  are  born  with  the  psychical  faculty 
developed  to  a  marked  degree.  People  who  possess 
tills  temperament  are  usually  considered  highly  nervous ; 
but  their  nervousness  is  normal,  not  abnormal.  It  is 
simply  that  their  nerves  are  unusually  active  ;  they  may 
be  highly  strung.  This  unusual  sensitiveness  may 
prove  either  a  blessing  or  a  curse.  If  it  is  physiological, 
it  is  a  very  great  blessing  ;  if  pathological,  it  is  a  curse. 
The  rate  of  vibration  with  such  people  is  decidedly 
higher  than  the  average ;  their  pulses  beat  more 
quickly;  their  blood  circulates  more  rapidly.  If  you 
take  the  temperature  of  the  body  of  a  person  of  the  psy¬ 
chical  temperament,  you  find  the  temperature  and  pulse 
above  the  normal  standard.  The  pulse  beats  quickly, 
yet  the  person  is  perfectly  well ;  it  is  not  a  pathological 
condition,  it  is  purely  physiological. 

It  has  been  proved  that  some  psychics  can  ]_ilay 
tricks  —  for  the  sake  of  experiment  —  with  their  own 
pulse,  putting  it  up  very  much  higher  than  usual, 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOiM. 


107 


and  also  putting  it  down  below  the  normal  rate  with 
them. 

The  development  of  the  psychic  faculty  is  of  the  ut¬ 
most  importance  to  the  human  family,  because  it  can 
show  us  the  inside  of  things  we  come  in  contact  with. 
It  teaches  us  to  be  utterly  unprejudiced ;  not  to  judge 
from  appearances  in  reading  people,  but  through  dis¬ 
cernment  of  interior  qualities. 

Woman,  from  her  introspective  position,  has  had  more 
opportunities  to  unfold  her  psychical  power  than  man ; 
tliis  explains  why  she  has  come  to  the  front,  in  many 
directions  at  the  present  time. 

Woman’s  function  of  maternity  gives  her  a  psychic 
development  that  man  does  not  naturally  so  soon  unfold, 
owing  to  his  different  capacities. 

The  opening  up  of  the  psychic  faculty  is  sure  to  take 
place  naturally  when  one  is  truly  individualized. 

When  we  come  into  realization  of  our  psychic  power, 
we  will  find  it  only  the  intensification  of  powers  already 
possessed. 

The  more  we  trust  in  any  faculty  the  more  we  unfold 
it.  Allow  the  faculties  to  grow  and  increase  naturally 
and  normalljq  in  the  same  way  that  everything  in  nature 
appears  and  develops. 

Instead  of  looking  upon  what  we  call  psychic  endow¬ 
ments  and  spiritual  gifts  as  the  property  of  the  few, 
these  will  be  revealed  in  the  majority,  in  times  to  come. 
What  are  now  called  exceptional  psychic  endowments 
will  become  universal.  Psychical  endowments  belong 
to  the  race,  they  pertain  to  humanity  ;  but  such  pow- 


108 


GLIl'TTS  OF  WISDOM. 


ers  need,  as  seeds  require,  opportunities  for  develop¬ 
ment. 

The  psychical  element  in  man  is  as  natural  as  the 
physical  vision,  or  taste,  or  smell,  or  touch. 

The  masses  of  people  do  not  need  special  psychic 
"ifts.  Those  who  are  satisfied  without  them  do  not 

O 

need  them;  but  just  as  soon  as  we  desire  psychical 
powers,  then  we  require  them. 

There  comes  a  time  when  these  gifts  within  us  stir 
themselves  ;  they  make  themselves  felt. 

If  psychical  perception  becomes  universal,  it  will  be 
of  no  use  for  any  one  to  tell  an  untruth,  because  no  one 
will  be  deceived  by  it.  And  it  will  be  exactly  the  same 
in  any  endeavor  to  palm  oft  the  false  for  the  true,  in  any 
case.  Forgery,  therefore,  will  be  a  lost  art. 

The  modus  operandi  of  psychical  development  is 
exactly  similar  to  that  of  physical  development  —  con¬ 
stant  use,  but  never  over-exertion.  Never  strive  to  do 
work  that  is  too  difficult ;  no  straining  of  the  faculties, 
but  constant  use  and  steady  thought,  fixity  of  purpose. 
Sight  unfolds  through  recognition  and  exercise.  Even 
pliysical  sight  may  be  brought  to  phenomenal  function- 
ing  by  recognizing  the  gift  —  allowing  it  to  develop  by 
constant  use  and  expectation. 

All  the  physical  senses  may  be  largely  developed  by 
training,  even  to  a  phenomenal  degree. 

But,  in  all  culture,  there  must  be  no  strain  after 
arduous  effects  ;  the  moment  of  strain  results  in  injury. 

The  psychic  faculty  unfolds  wherever  it  has  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  do  so.  The  power  is  within  every  one ;  so 


GLIi^TS  OF  WISDOM. 


109 


there  is  no  process  for  acquiring  it,  but  there  is  a  process 
for  unfolding  it. 

Many  people  organize  what  they  call  ‘‘  developing 
circles.”  They  “sit”  together,  holding  each  other’s 
hands  ;  and  expect  —  by  some  kind  of  physical  contact 
—  to  develop  some  special  spiritual  gift.  They  are  look¬ 
ing  for  the  so-called  psychical  phenomena,  which  are 
producing  so  profound  an  impression  upon  many  minds 
of  the  present  age.  But  we  find,  to-day,  that  the  more 
intelligent  people  who  are  interested  in  psychical  re¬ 
search,  are  dispensing  witli  extraneous  methods.  The 
gift  merely  needs  to  be  permitted  to  unfold. 

Permission  to  unfold  the  psychic  faculty  is  what 
every  natural  child  wants  when  that  child  demands 
mental  liberty. 

We  do  not  recognize  any  danger  in  seeking  psychic 
development.  There  is  no  danger  when  we  learn  to 
discipline  our  forces.  But  it  is  better  to  get  beaten 
once  in  a  while  than  never  to  obtain  knowledge.  There 
is  danger  in  being  prompted  by  an  unworthy  motive ; 
and  that  is  all  the  danger  there  is. 

By  deliberate  cultivation  of  the  psychic  power,  one 
can  do  a  greater  amount  of  work  with  a  smaller  amount 
of  energy. 

Whenever  you  endeavor  to  unfold  any  psychical 
power  within  you,  put  yourself  into  the  easiest  attitude 
possible.  There  is  no  need  of  making  any  effort.  Do 
not  take  any  strained  mental  attitude. 

Wearing  too  mucli  clothing,  or  anything  Avhich  binds 
or  presses,  wastes  the  forces  or  prevents  their  harmoni¬ 
ous  outflow. 


no 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


It  is  not  what  we  do,  in  the  sense  of  our  occupation, 
but  it  is  the  frittering  away  of  our  forces  which  wearies 
us.  Some  people  are  always  moving  their  hands  or 
their  feet.  This  occasions. loss  of  psychic  power,  shows 
an  abnormal  state  of  the  mind,  depletes  the  psychic 
force. 

It  is  certain  that  one  can  give  undivided  attention  to 
only  one  thing  at  a  time. 

We  are  not  conscious  of  the  subjective  life  going  on 
all  around  us,  when  engaged  with  our  usual  avocations. 

On  the  psychical  plane,  we  cannot  be  judged  by  our 
dress,  or  by  any  external  appearance. 

As  the  universe  expands  to  us,  we  shall  enjoy  all  we 
have  already  had,  and  vastly  more  added.  As  our  fac¬ 
ulties  ever  grow,  more  and  more  transcendent  revela¬ 
tions  will  come  to  us,  so  that  we  shall  grow  to  be  so 
completely  at  home  in  the  psychic  realm  that  the  veil 
of  mystery  will  be  rent  in  twain,  and  what  was  formerly 
regarded  unknowable  Avill  be  freely  known. 

The  possession  of  spiritual  power  of  attainment  is 
universal.  It  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  be 
acquainted  with  all  the  contents  of  our  being.  The 
containment  of  our  nature  is  vastly  more  than  our 
knowledge  of  that  containment.  We  have  within  us 
abilities  that  we  know  not  of.  As  we  come  to  know 
these  more  and  more,  the  universe  becomes  wider  to  us. 

On  the  psychical  plane  —  on  the  subjective  plane  — 
the  more  you  can  see  and  hear  the  better.  There  are 
those  who  say  it  is  wrong  to  attempt  to  pry  into  God’s 
secrets.  If  God  has  any  secrets  that  he  doesn’t  wish  us 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


Ill 


to  know,  we  may  be  sure  that  he  has  guarded  them 
so  carefully  that  we  could  not  pry  into  them  if  we 
wished. 

Wliateyer  psychic  endowment  one  may  possess,  let 
him  give  it  freedom,  and  never  allow  himself  to  be  in- 
lluenced  by  the  scarecrowism  in  the  world.  There  is 
no  danger  in  searching  into  the  psychic  realm,  if  one’s 
motives  be  pure.  It  will  unfold  more  and  more. 

It  will  drive  away  the  blues  and  sickness ;  it  will  do 
away  with  all  sense  of  loss  and  bereavement;  and  it 
will  enable  us  to  acknowledge  that  every  wonder  of  the 
olden  times  can  be  duplicated  at  the  present  day. 

Wherever  you  can  have  the  most  privacy  —  whenever 
you  can  feel  quiet,  alone,  or  in  company  with  some  con¬ 
genial  friend  or  friends  —  put  yourself  into  the  most 
comfortable  attitude,  and  allow  yourself  to  drink  in 
wliatesrer  may  come  to  you.  Let  there  be  no  straining, 
no  forced  exercise  of  the  will,  no  trying  to  grasp  some¬ 
thing  difficult  to  catch,  but  a  perfectly  quiet,  receptive 
attitude,  as  of  one  who  enters  a  theatre  to  witness  dis¬ 
solving  views.  The  curtain  lias  not  yet  risen,  you  see 
now  only  the  blank  screen  ;  as  you  sit  quietly  in  your 
place,  you  make  observations. 

If  you  like,  take  —  in  tlie  bright  light  —  a  glass  of 
pure  water,  and  watch  for  what  may  appear  upon  its 
surface.  Tlie  fixing’  of  the  eves  on  the  water  secures  the 

O 

needed  concentration.  All  such  things  may  be  of  some 
aid,  for  the  sake  of  helping  the  concentration  of  the 
mind. 

Sit  quietly  waiting  for  what  may  come  ;  make  obser- 


112 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


vation  of  what  comes.  Make  no  definite  statement  until 
it  has  already  appeared  ;  then,  A¥hen  it  has  clearly  come, 
merely  make  note  of  it. 

MEDITATIONS. 

We  carry  onto  the  psyehic  plane  exactly  what  we 
encourage  and  foster  on  the  material  plane. 

When  a  man  is  unfolded  on  the  psychic  plane,  the 
powers  he  has  heretofore  possessed  become  infinitely 
expanded. 

Every  spiritual  endowment  is  just  as  naturally  tlie 
right  of  mankind  as  intellectual  or  physical  endow¬ 
ments. 

Every  man  who  truly  seeks  it  shall  find  th.e  mystic 
key,  whereby  he  can  cause 'the  spiritual  gate  within  him 
to  turn  on  its  hinges  and  reveal  to  him  his  real  immortal 
selfhood. 

It  is  of  no  use  for  anybody  to  attempt  to  use  psyehic 
power  until  he  is  truly  individualized.  When  you  are 
truly  individualized,  you  have  realized  that  you  dare  to 
go  directly  to  the  heart  of  the  universe  — ■  direetly  to 
the  Infinite  Spirit. 

As  long  as  one  submits  to  any  form  of  tyranny,  one 
cannot  become  truly  psyehie,  much  less  spiritual  in  the 
higher  sense. 

All  proeesses  are  mental ;  all  victories  are  mental, 
and  all  defeats  are  mental.  That  cause  which  appears 
material  ean  be  at  most  only  a  secondary  cause.  Aeeom- 
panying  phenomena  should  not  be  confounded  with  con¬ 
sequent  phenomena. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


113 


There  is  no  use  in  trying  to  force  anything  until  its 
time  conies.  When  the  hour  for  anything  strikes  the 
will  to  procure  it  is  present. 


SPIRITISM. 

Clairvoyance  and  clairaudience  have  always  been 
conspicuous  among  those  who  were  prophets.  Clair¬ 
voyance  may  cover  nearly  all  the  territory  of  spiritual¬ 
ism. 

It  is  not  probable  that  spirits  on  higher  planes  know 
anything  about  our  material  conditions,  but  they  read 
our  thoughts. 

When  people  endeavor  to  become  mediums  —  as  gen¬ 
erally  understood  —  the  manifestations  they  receive 
may  be  genuine,  but  they  try  to  get  the  spirit  world  to 
come  down  to  their  state,  not  to  bring  themselves  to  a 
higher  plane.  The  higher  spiritualism  is  the  reverse. 
Only  the  lower  spiritualism  is  trying  to  bring  the  spirits 
down  to  the  earth  plane.  Instead  of  trying  to  get  the 
spiritual  to  manifest  to  the  senses,  we  should  endeavor 
to  ascend  —  not  asking  the  spiritual  world  to  descend. 

The  lower  spiritualism  is  merely  catering  to  our 
senses. 

The  most  truly  spiritual  persons  never  get  any  phys¬ 
ical  manifestations  whatever,  never  see  anything  with 
the  material  eye. 

When  you  come  down  to  material  sense,  what  mes¬ 
sages  do  you  receive  ?  Oidy  platitudes  ! 


114 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


Think  of  the  knowledge  to  be  gained  from  the  higher 
relationship  !  When  we  come  into  that  higher  spiritual 
relationship,  we  may  become  inventors,  artists,  authors, 
on  planes  not  yet  imagined. 

The  mere  fact  of  people  going  into  particular  places 
will  not  attract  spiritual  influences.  It  is  the  mental 
state,  the  motive,  which  always  serves  as  the  magnet. 

Tlie  ordinary  theory  in  the  world  is  that  there  is 
necessarily  invocation,  in  order  to  bring  the  spirits  near 
to  us ;  we  hear  of  ‘‘  spirit  return,”  etc.  If  people  only 
understood  how  to  express  themselves,  they  would  be 
able  to  approach  the  subject  intelligently. 

We  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  inviting  “  spirit 
return.”  The  whole  thing  that  concerns  us,  as  scien¬ 
tific  investigators,  is  a  change  in  our  own  consciousness, 
affording  conditions  for  spiritual  perception  and  demon¬ 
stration.  It  is  only  a  question  of  the  opening  up  of  our 
own  perception. 

There  is  an  element  of  disordered  imagination,  a  great 
deal  of  hysteria,  in  so-called  spiritual  and  psychic  expe¬ 
riences,  until  the  desire  for  mere  phenomena  yields  to  a 
genuine  craving  for  absolute  truth. 

Beware  how  you  have  any  dealings  with  the  “  familiar 
spirits  ”  of  self-seeking  persons.  The  expression  “  fa¬ 
miliar  spirits  ”  is  a  very  significant  one.  This  is  ap- 
})licable  where  the  motive  is  money,  or  other  unworthy 
object. 

Speaking  of  “  obsession,”  it  is  because  people  acknowl¬ 
edge  everything  but  the  universal  spirit  of  good  that 
they  are  subject  to  obsessions. 


GLINTS  OF  ^YISDOM. 


115 


It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  phenomena  of  obses¬ 
sion  are  genuine.  We  believe  the  accounts  in  the  Bible 
—  that  undeveloped  influences  were  present  and  that 
Jesus  and  his  apostles  turned  them  out.  But  the  cause 
for  any  such  experience  is  nothing  but  false  belief.  The 
recognition  of  truth  is  the  only  antidote. 

Supposing  one  is  very  sensitive  or  mediumistic,  why 
cannot  such  an  one  polarize  himself,  so  that  he  will  draw 
toward  him  always  the  good?  Right  polarization  is 
most  important  in  mediumship. 

Let  people  place  their  confldence  in  the  good  and  in 
the  true.  This  is  what  everyone  must  do  in 
put  himself  into  right  relationship  with  the  universe. 

Divided  attention  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  all  un¬ 
pleasant  psychic  plienomena.  When  we  put  ourselves 
into  the  subjective  condition  with  the  deliberate  inten¬ 
tion  of  gaining  knowledge,  it  will  come  to  us. 

You  have  only  yourself  to  blame  if  you  have  dis¬ 
agreeable  influences  around  you ;  you  can  keep  only 
what  you  attract. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood,  however,  that  these  influ¬ 
ences  might  not  still  be  in  your  vicinity ;  they  could  be 
near  that  you  might  teach  them. 

We  are  as  sure  that  there  are  individual  communica¬ 
tions  with  spirits  as  we  are  sure  of  anything. 

MEDITATION. 

If  people  are  spiritually  developed,  they  cannot  be 
deceived ;  when  holding  for  the  truly  spiritual  and 
nothing  else. 


116 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


GOLDEN  MOTTO. 

We  cannot  conceive  an  idea  of  a  state  of  life  that  is 
not  expressed  somewhere. 


ELECTIVE  AFFINITY. 

Once  grasp  the  Law  of  Elective  Affinity,  and  tlie 
cause  of  spiritual  phenomena  will  he  clearly  under¬ 
stood. 

Yv  e  do  not  usually  come  into  psychical  relation  with 
tilings,  hut  with  people ;  and  we  may  often  see  ob¬ 
jects  surrounding  tlie  persons  in  psychical  relation 
with  us. 

We  may  not  be  able  to  put  ourselves  en  rapport  with 
mere  things,  but  with  persons  who  may  be  in  certain 
places,  at  certain  times ;  and  through  our  harmony 
with  them  we  can  become  familiar  with  their  sur¬ 
roundings. 

We  should  endeavor  to  put  ourselves  in  relation  with 
some  person  and  go  with  him,  when  we  wish  to  see  a 
certain  place,  or  obtain  certain  knowledge.  It  is  one 
human  being  en  rap)port  with  another  human  being,  not 
a  man  with  an  inanimate  object.  This  rapport  may  be 
entirely  unconscious  or  involuntary  on  both  sides. 

Two  persons  maybe  in* natural  affinity, like  two  harps 
attuned  together;  if  one  is  struck,  the  other  responds. 
This  sympathy  or  affinity  is  not  the  result  of  flesh  and 
blood  relationship;  it  is  a  spiritual  kinship.  We  can 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


117 


encourage  it ;  we  can  intensify  it,  perhaps  ;  but  it  must 
be  iiiate  to  begin  with. 

We  get  results  proportionate  to  our  mental  states. 
W e  can  put  ourselves  en  rapport at  will,  with  whatever 
we  desire  to  communicate  with,  if  we  take  the  right 
mental  attitude. 

REFLECTION. 

One  prime  requisite  is  always  necessary  —  the  per¬ 
fect  love  of  truth ;  we  are  then  invading  the  psychic 
realm  in  safety. 


AURAS  —  PSYCHICAL  ENVIRONMENT. 

Most  people  when  they  talk  of  environment,  sur¬ 
roundings,  and  circumstances  —  which  all  mean  the 
same  —  refer  to  these  things  as  something  over  which 
they  can  exercise  no  control,  as  governing  factors  in 
their  lives.  You  can  make  your  own  environments, 
surroundino-s  and  circumstances.  You  are  surrounded 

O 

with  a  psychic  envelope  which  is  primarily  your  encir¬ 
cling  habitation. 

The  aura  belongs  to  the  individual  just  the  same  as 
feathers  belong  to  a  bird. 

It  is  the  particular  aura  of  the  individual  that  condi¬ 
tions  ]iis  work.  If  you  know  liow  to  generate  an  aura, 
you  can  go  to  work  and  generate  any  circumstance  you 

You  can  bring  into  your  daily  life  the  things  and 
places  you  will,  if  you  go  out  on  the*  psychical  current. 


118 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


You  will  find  many  circles,  many  planes  of  existence. 
When  you  get  onto  a  plane  above  your  ordinary  one, 
your  soul  is  at  home  on  that  plane ;  to  the  psychical 
faculty  that  plane  is  real  and  seen. 

If  you  allow  yourself  to  go  out  onto  the  psychical 
current — if  you  go  naturally  —  you  will  feel  a  great 
deal  stronger,  have  a  much  greater  power  of  endurance, 
with  much  less  expenditure  of  force  ;  you  will  generate 
force  much  more  rapidly  and  recuperate  much  more 
readily. 

When  you  can  read  the  auras  of  different  people,  you 
can  tell  at  once  if  you  can  help  them.  If  their  auras 
blend  with  yours,  there  can  be  psychical  relation  to 
mutual  advantage,  but  not  otherwise. 

Those  with  coarse  auras  may  heal  a  great  many  peo¬ 
ple  on  the  animal  plane  ;  but  in  all  cases  of  high-strung 
people  they  would  fail.  Very  sensitive  people  could 
not  bear  such  a  one  to  come  into  their  presence.  Differ¬ 
ent  people  are  reached  on  their  different  planes  ;  that  is 
why  no  ordinary  healers  can  reach  all  cases. 

When  you  feel  your  aura  draw  back  into  yourself, 
the  conditions  are  not  harmonious  ;  you  will  not  blend 
with  any  person  from  whom  you  feel  like  drawing  away 
instinctively.  It  is  always  well  to  respect  this  instinct. 

If  you  can  realize  the  aura,  where  the  auras  of  differ¬ 
ent  individuals  blend,  there  it  is  easy  to  effect  telepathic 
communication ;  and  the  same  applies  equally  to  men¬ 
tal  healing. 

We  find  as  we  study  into  tlie  psycliic  realm  that  we 
can  wear  just  what  we  please  psychically. 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


119 


On  the  external  plane,  everything  corresponds  exactly 
to  the  psychical  plane. 

The  word  “  raiment”  is  a  varied  form  of  “rayment.” 
It  is,  properly  speaking,  rayment^  radiation.  The  halo 
or  nimbus  encircling  the  head  of  a  saint  is  in  accord 
with  this  idea. 

This  radiation  must  proceed  from  the  individual  him¬ 
self. 

A  person  can  be  mentally  surrounded  by  whatsoever 
radiation  he  himself  gives  out. 

Nothing  is  here  for  us  that  we  do  not  take  in  through 
our  own  perception. 

Every  one  can  make  his  own  immediate  environment. 
Can  clothe  himself  with  his  own  shell. 

W e  can  also,  by  means  of  this  aura,  gain  access  to  the 
external  world,  so  that  we  can  take  into  our  own  world 
what  we  wish,  and  keep  out  whatever  we  do  not  desire. 
Man  may  really  be  compared  to  a  bivalve ;  he  can  shut 
out  or  take  in  whatever  he  pleases. 

We  make  our  own  world  in  two  ways.  By  radiating 
we  develop  from  within  outward;  we  unfold  and  give 
out,  and  surround  ourselves  with  our  own  radiations. 
Also,  we  attract  to  us  whatever  we  desire  to  possess, 
provided  we  confidently  expect  it. 

Just  as  we  can  take  what  suits  us  from  the  different 
kinds  of  food  placed  before  us,  so  we  can  draw  from  tlic 
atmosphere  the  kind  of  emanations  suited  to  our  vari¬ 
ous  needs. 

Any  one  can  choose  his  own  surroundings,  on  tlie 
psychic  plane. 


120 


GLINTS  OF  WISDOM. 


There  is  a  spiritual  world  in  which  we  are  now  liv¬ 
ing.  When  we  are  concentrated  upon  any  special 
object,  we  are  oblivious  to  all  other  objects  for  the 
time  being.  There  is  a  scientific  reason  for  this 
which  immediately  suggests  itself  to  the  reflective 
student. 

MEDITATION. 

Whatever  we  want  is  a  little  more  than  what  we 
already  have  —  something  that  if  we  did  not  have  it 
within  us,  we  should  not  conceive  of. 

Tlie  moment  people  undertake  to  make  their  own 
world,  they  can  have  any  kind  of  a  world  that  they  like, 
for  one’s  own  world  is  a  surrounding  atmosphere,  a  port¬ 
able  environment. 


GOLDEN  MOTTO. 


Tlie  reality  of  everything  is  spiritual. 


